Nice to hear some writers finally acknowledging the respect and grace South Africa carries off the field. But this statement is just too soon to make “Heyneke Meyer is one of the great coaches of the modern era and under his guidance the Springboks will continue to learn and grow.” The jury is still very much out on him being a great coach…experience or no experience! The presumption here is that had he had the experience…we have been handed our backsides by Aus and NZ for a long time now. People forget that South Africa has not fared well against Aus and NZ since Nick Mallets tenure. We picked up 2 Tri Nations and one World Cup (without playing Aus and NZ) since Nick Mallet era. Nick Mallet and Kitch Christie were one of our greatest coaches ever. Heyneke has a very long way to go to get to this class of international coach. If by modern era you mean Superrugby coaching, he only has one of those titles (after 8 years as head coach). This year I have seen nothing from him which suggests he will be a great coach and he could be without a job soon if he proves to be inflexible with certain selections. If you had said “he could be one of the great coaches of the modern era” if he does this and that… I would understand. But progress has been painfully slow from him so far.

@Smaltz is correct when he says “I have seen nothing from him which suggest he will be a great coach…” I continue to doubt whether a “Blue Bulls” style of direct, in your face rugby can be successful against SA’s leading competitors.

That said, Meyer’s comments about Richie McCaw were gracious though his reasoning is somewhat obscure. Is he hoping to inspire his players to emulate Richie?

While graciousness is an under-appreciated virtue in the modern world, and Meyer deserves some praise for his recent comments, actions speak louder than words. Meyer tolerated Bakkies Botha on the Bulls because he was a winning player, and the perfect partner of Victor Matfield, despite him being one of the dirtiest players in world rugby. It will be interesting to see what Meyers actions relating to disciplining Dean Greyling actually are.

He’s not “rebuilding”. He’s just “continuing” but with the loss of a few highly capped players. England is “rebuilding” and with less caps got a Draw vs S.Af away. Rebuilding implies reform and cultural and strategic shift. Hes had to recruit some new players but what has HM done to rebuild? The guy to replace him will have to do that… If needed… but perhaps HM is right in continuing in the way Boks traditionally play. He is doing what Johnson did with England.

It is enlightening to see a scribe publicily note the humbleness of a South African coach and players in the media. I am a die-hard All Blacks fan but have always been in admiration of South African humbleness off the field. They are ruthless on the field but as soon as the ref blows the final whistle, they become one of the greatest ambassadors of rugby. Two of my mates who are ex-ABs have nothing but total respect for the Boks players. Considering they are two of the most humblest ABs ever, it is fair to say that they know one when they see it.

@Manuka – With a loss of a few capped players? Are you kidding me? Do you know when Pieter De Villiers was in charge the team was coached not by De Villiers but actually by John Smit and his fellow players with experience. Do you know that? We lost Botha, Matfield, Russouw, Smit, Du Preez, Goosen was out injured, lost Fourie, Vermeulen out injured, Spies out injured (ok I know that is actually a plus but still) Bismarck out injured as well.

How different does NZ look without their Pivot? The loss of Du Preez was huge and Goosen only came back and he made a huge difference in the last game vs Australia.

@Save great to hear that. After the Super Rugby matches the South African teams always invite the team they played against to a braai (bbq) at one of the players home where they relax and have fun a bit. I think most of us know adrenaline takes over and you might have slinged handbags in a game with someone but after the game when you have come back to your senses you basically realized how you stupid you looked.

@S Spoony – There is no excuse for the selections that HM made in the beginning of his tenure. Its quite clearly evident (for me anyway) that had he not selected so many Bulls (who were not great this Super 15), the team may have performed earlier (Jantjies, De Jongh, Francois Louw, Brussouw were all capped players he could have used but left out the team in the beggining). His tactics were also off when he played Morne Steyn. With or without the older players (who supposedly did all the coaching while PDV just sat and twisted his moustache) HM made a big mistake. He is now at least rectifying this mistake but making excuses about lack of experienced players is not on. The Wallabies are decimated by injuries at the moment and have little depth yet they managed to beat SA in Aus. We walloped their B team in SA but Deans is still under pressure. HM deserved all the pressure he got from Bok fans and I think it actually helped. SA have done nothing yet though. After this weekend we will have a better indication of where we stand.

Can’t believe you talk about HM and the rest of the Boks like that but PdV are not in the same boat. Why appoint a man if will ask players to coach? Smalllz and S …Spoony…. our mentallity wont change about Sa Rugby. I was impressed the way PdV was coaching. Lets chat about SA rugby.

Why don’t you guys comment on above message? Spoooony do you have evidence that PDV was just a spectator and not a coach? is this a matter of a black coach can’t coach the SA team? Think again if you love rugby.

@Smallz He selected Morne Steyn who else is there to select? We lost Fourie Du Preez he was our pivot. Currently in SA we have no pivots that is fit. Lambie not a pivot. Sharks used Freddy or the 9. Stormers Grant last year were playing with 2 inside centres. And people wonder why they were so uncreative.

De Jongh? He is a inside center. You can’t play 2 that is why they looked so uncreative.

@Curry What did PdV actually do? He received a squad which was a golden generation of players and could muster up only 1 Tri Nations in 4 years and sneaked past the Lions. That is not impressive coaching that is wasting talent. Anyone who selects Addy Jacobs above Jaque Fourie must not know much about rugby. He robbed a lot of talent. Name me one guy in that teams he used that was selected by him and excelled? Every new guy he brought in was a failure most of the time. He lived of White’s foundation till they were too old then he left cause he had no clue what is going on in professional rugby. You could have been the coach of the SA team and would have achieved the same as he did as the team was coaching itself.

Oh and you know why he was appointed.

@S Spoony – Dood, are you OK? Lambie not a pivot? De Jongh an inside centre? he can play both). Then you say only 1 tri nations in 4 years for PDV. Can you name me 1 other South African coach who won more than 1 Tri Nations in their entire tenure? Of players he selected who excelled – Heinrich Brussouw, Morne Steyn, Beast, Francois Louw. Dood, you just make statements with no basis behind them. If the players were coaching the team then they must admit to themselves they are shit coaches! I don’t believe they were coaching the team but they had more of a say in game strategy than every other SA coach. Its got us 3 wins against NZ in 2009, The Tri Nations and a Lions series win. Tell me when last that happened and which coach achieved this? The years after that did not go too well but don’t go aound shouting down a coach who managed to bring about one of the best years in Springbok history (ie. 2009). You can never take that away from him!