Heyneke Meyer shows his hand with new Bok coaching staff
Former Sharks and Springbok fullback Ricardo Loubscher will be in charge of the Bok backline during Heyneke Meyers' reign. Photo by Anton Geyser /Rugby15.
Morgan Piek – The new Springbok coaching staff was announced today and will be joining Heyneke Meyer to start preparations for England’s inbound tour.
As is expected it is a Bulls dominated coaching team. It’s still too early to tell what kind of style the Boks will be adopting, but only time will tell. In my view – it will be a kicking game with big forwards to try and bash the opposition. As the old adage goes – “A leopard never changes it’s spots”.
One concern however is that at a quick glance, one cannot help but get the impression that Meyer will be attempting to reinvent the wheel. If that is the case, it will be a huge mistake as we’ve seen in the past, it does not work. Sure enough, Meyer has taken over from Peter de Villiers who did more harm than good in his four-year tenure. Some repair is needed, however, there is no need to rebuild an entire new team.
Now is the time to bring in the promising youngsters and forget about the has-beens. Forget about the Du Preezs’, Matfields’ and the likes of. The talent is out there and we see it week-in-week-out in the Super Rugby. Don’t make the same mistake Peter de Villiers made. There is a reason no team has successfully defended the Webb-Ellis Trophy, and that reason being the defending Champs always stick with the same core of players that won the title.
Dawie Theron has assembled a highly talented squad of youngsters for the IRB Junior World Champions taking place in Cape Town and Stellenbosch from 4 to 22 June. These are the lads Heyneke Meyer needs to keep an eye on.
Just weeks after the Final of yet another highly successful Varsity Cup, SA Sevens coach, Paul Treu has named various Varsity Cup stars to join the Blitz Bokke in the Glasgow and London for the two remaining legs of the HSBC Sevens circuit. These players include the likes of Clayton Blommetjies of Tukkies and the Maties Ryan Nell. Meyer will be a fool to ignore these promising youngsters.
Heyneke Meyers’ coaching staff is as follows:
Ricardo Loubscher – Backline Coach
Johann van Graan – Forwards Coach
John McFarland – Defensive Coach
Basil Carzis – Conditioning Coach
Ian Schwartz – Team Manager
* Carzis, McFarland and Van Graan will all join the Springboks for the England Series, after which they will all return to the Bulls until the end of the Super Rugby season.
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