SA Rugby is being frustrated in their plans to get rid of Springbok coach Allister Coetzee.
The coach has dug in his heels and is exercising his legal rights to keep his job amid attempts from SA Rugby to fire him almost two years before his contract expires.
Coetzee in 2016 signed up to be national coach until after the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan and attempts to have him sidelined or removed after the Springboks' below par performances over the last two years, have hit a wall.If unresolved the impasse between SA Rugby and the coach could affect preparations for the Springboks' three-test series against England in June.
Coetzee was bullish that he would still have a job this year after his team won two and lost the same number of tests last year. He said at the end of last year's tour that he was "not going anywhere" and was correct as SA Rugby has been unable to find legal grounds to relieve him of his duties.
"That performance clause that is supposed to be in his contract doesn't exist. They had a verbal arrangement, but it was never actually formalised in his contract," an insider told the Sunday Times.
He added that Coetzee had beefed up his legal team to ward off attempts to have him sidelined or axed.
The source added that former South African Rugby Players Association chief executive Piet Heymans had initially served as Coetzee's legal representative, but that the coach has since assembled new lawyers. Neither Coetzee nor Heymans were available for comment yesterday.That Heymans had represented Coetzee is contained in an explosive letter that Coetzee purportedly drafted to SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux.
In the letter, Coetzee outlined his position and posed several questions including what the coach suggested was SA Rugby's breach of employment terms with him.
In the letter, Coetzee challenged the notion that he should report to new director of rugby Rassie Erasmus as well as the appointment of staff to the Springbok coaching set-up without his consent.
Erasmus, who was coaching boss at Irish province Munster until late last year, has resumed duties at SA Rugby and has in effect taken on wider responsibilities than the position he held before leaving for Ireland in 2016. He now enjoys full control of the national team, with the Springbok coach reportedly answering to him.
Plans to clean out the Springbok coaching and management team appeared to be in full swing, with Erasmus's confidant and defence guru Jacques Nienaber also returning to the national coaching set-up. Scrum coach Pieter de Villiers has also been earmarked for a position in the group.Earlier this week, Bok forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot told a rugby website he has no intention of vacating his post.
In the letter, Coetzee outlined a sequence of events in which Roux apparently informed him that a decision had been taken that his services would be terminated regardless of the anticipated review process which the coach was supposed to be subjected to. The decision had apparently been taken by SA Rugby president Mark Alexander, deputy president Francois Davids and vice president James Stofberg.
The letter further stated that Coetzee had been informed by Roux that should the coach wish to remain in his position he would be reduced to a ceremonial role under Erasmus. Coetzee added that should he be reduced to a ceremonial role he would have to "face the indignity of reporting to Rassie".
In the letter, Coetzee added that elements within the South African Rugby Union had embarked on a deliberate attempt to undermine him, while creating the public impression that he was incompetent.
The coach suggested that he had been set up to fail...