Coetzee: 'Springboks have closed the chapter on 2016' after France victory
'This is a team that does not play to lose. It is about baby steps'
IN the lead up to his 13th test in charge of the Springboks‚ coach Allister Coetzee stopped short of asking for last year's dirty dozen to be wiped from memory. He no longer tacitly implied that the slate be wiped clean after his side beat France 37-14 in the first test - he said it out loud. “We closed the chapter on 2016‚” said Coetzee. “I chose the best possible squad for this test series. "We are moving in the right direction, whether on defence or attack‚ or kicking game. This is a team that does not play to lose. It is about baby steps.” That comment would have resonated with captain Warren Whiteley whose second child was born last week. Whiteley gave a timely reminder that they merely won the battle‚ but that the war was still in the balance. “We have to keep our feet on the ground. "This was only the first test in a series of three‚" he said. Coetzee this year has made no bones of incorporating elements which have helped make the Lions South Africa's foremost Super Rugby fra...
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