Coetzee charts a new direction
Springbok coach picks four debutants for first Test against France on Saturday that includes seven from the in-form Lions
After the mental scarring of 2016’s traumatic experiences, Springbok coach Allister Coetzee says Saturday’s first Test against France at Loftus Versfeld will be a new beginning.His selection of four debutants in his first match-day 23 of the year lent credence to his claims of wanting to chart a new direction with his class of 2017.Andries Coetzee, Raymond Rhule, Ross Cronjé and Courtnall Skosan will be making their Test bows in the starting line-up with another debutant, Dillyn Leyds, named on the bench.With his job widely seen to be on the line should SA lose the three-match series, Coetzee has hedged his bets with players who avoided the mental battering inflicted by 2016’s eight defeats from 12 matches."It means a new beginning in terms of everything. You can have young players, which leads to a vibrant group of players and I hope they’ll take that to the field. They’ll make mistakes because they are young players and we don’t live in a fool’s paradise. I’m sure, though, there’s...
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