Jones exposes Coetzee

Springbok backline coach Allister Coetzee has rubbished the idea that Eddie Jones is calling all the shots in the Bok backline coaching department.

The Springbok backline showed more enterprise in the World Cup warm-up game against Namibia than they have in four years under Coetzee, leaving many fans to question what exactly the Bok backline coach has been doing over this period.

Coetzee would now have us believe that the sudden turnaround in the Bok backline style is due to the structures he has been implementing over his long period in charge. The enterprise displayed by the backline against Namibia was just the result of his structures suddenly bearing fruit.

It is an open secret that the Bok backline under Coetzee, despite the obvious individual talent of the players, has been inept with little in the way of ideas on attack. Coetzee has been exposed as the weak link in the Bok coaching setup. Jones has achieved more in his brief four week stint with the Boks than Coetzee has during his entire period in charge.

Coetzee, clearly worried by Jones receiving all the credit, wants us to believe that the structures have been there all along and that Jones is just slotting in.

“Our attacking and defensive structures have been in place and refined over the last four years,” said Coetzee.

“It’s is not a case of Eddie coming in and telling everybody what to do.

“Eddie’s been heavily involved in the organisation around the 10 channel, getting players, particularly loose forwards, running off the flyhalf and giving him options.

“This worked well against Namibia and that made it easier for our outside backs to attack when the ball was recycled.

“But that is something the coaching staff has been working on for a while, Eddie didn’t initiate the idea.

“We’ve been working on attacking as a unit rather than two separate entities and have been trying to get that link working efficiently. Eddie came here and applauded that, reinforcing what we thought was the correct approach for the World Cup.

“We’re never going to adopt an Australian approach where our backline play takes precedence over our forwards. We know our strengths and we’ll try and play to those at every opportunity.

“Change for the sake of change would be foolish. Australia has limited resources and so have stuck with the same players in their backline for a while now. Their 9,10,12,13 combination has hardly changed in five or six years and that continuity has resulted in them building an incredible understanding which makes them so dangerous.

“We’re in a very different situation and it would be counterproductive for us to play the Australian way. Our forwards are world class and finding the balance between maximising their strengths and utilising the platform they lay for the back division is the science we’re aiming to perfect,” said Coetzee.