Massive SA rugby shake-up on the way

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander gave the strongest hint yet that Springbok coach Allister Coetzee could be on the way out when he outlined plans for massive structural changes yesterday.

In a season that has seen the Boks lose seven of 11 tests (before yesterday's clash against Wales), the rapid descent of the national team's fortunes has accelerated the need to overhaul rugby structures.

Alexander asked for cool heads in a review period, but committed to the union taking necessary "tough decisions".

He also said the policy of selecting overseas-based players would be reviewed.

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"Our No 1 priority is a turnaround strategy for the Springbok team and that will be looked at immediately and decisively," he said.

"But I can assure our supporters and stakeholders that if tough decisions have to be made we will not shy away from making them."

Plans to bring governance structures more in line with the demands of professional sport were already well advanced, while the immediate question of what to do about Springbok results was the organisation's top priority.

"It has been a profoundly disappointing season in terms of results and we are acutely aware that we have failed to live up to the Springboks' proud heritage," Alexander said.

"We have collectively let down our supporters, our commercial partners and our broadcast partner, SuperSport. I would like to apologise to all our stakeholders for the disappointments we have all suffered this season. We are all feeling very raw and let down and it would be easy to make knee-jerk decisions. But we must resist that.

"For instance, our playing fortunes have been declining since the Outgoing Tour of 2014 - despite a fine fightback to win a bronze medal at the Rugby World Cup - and we must coolly and coldly analyse what have been the main factors contributing to those results before determining what remedies are at our disposal to solve them.

"We will start by speaking to the coach and other team role-players for their assessment and to provide our feedback. We will take feedback from forthcoming indabas and we must critically review our selection policy relating to overseas-based players.

"We've seen an unusually high number of injuries to key players this year, and we've lost many experienced test players to overseas clubs, both of which have had major repercussions for the Springboks. We have to find ways to manage these challenges."

The coaching Indaba between the Springbok coaches and franchise coaches takes place on 12 December.

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Meanwhile, a General Council meeting on December 9 could also have a significant bearing on the future of rugby in South Africa.

Alexander said the key changes planned are:

New franchise and non-franchise rugby committees to improve communication between unions and the Executive Council; to make recommendations on competitions and playing affairs; and to speed up decision-making.

Allowing third parties to take a majority shareholding in unions' commercial arms and have a voice in running rugby through the new franchise rugby committee.

Doubling independent representation on the Executive Council to four members plus the representative of the players.

Terminating the role of the vice-president (at the end of the current term in 2018) to bring the elected representation to six.

Coetzee previously told the Sunday Times he had called a meeting last week with Alexander and CEO Jurie Roux to explain the depth of the crisis.

"If you bring in another coach the problems will still be there.

"If the structural problems are sorted out and we find ourselves in the same situation again, then I will take full responsibility and I'll walk," Coetzee had said.