SA Rugby maps way forward

Allister Coetzee believes the blueprint for SA Rugby and the management of players is at an advanced stage.

The second installment of the SA Rugby coaches’ indaba was held in Cape Town on Monday, where the Springbok coaching staff and the Super Rugby head coaches continued with discussions to map a strategic blueprint for South African rugby.

Monday’s assembly was a resumption of the ground-breaking coaches’ indaba held in Cape Town two months ago, and Coetzee said he had been excited by the continued willingness of all stakeholders to contribute towards improving the local game.

'The blueprint for SA Rugby is now at an advance stage and the decisions from today’s meeting will be incorporated in a document which we will finalise early next year,' he commented. 'We discussed certain skills sets and fundamentals which will ensure players meet the required Springbok standards.

'We also looked at the 2017 international calendar with the aim to optimise preparation time of the Springboks, and presented the outcomes of the conditioning workshop held last week.'

The indaba was also attended by SA Rugby president Mark Alexander and James Stoffberg, chairman of the SA Rugby High Performance Committee.

'As a result of the excellent collaboration between our coaches at the Indaba, we now have the guiding principles of a much needed blueprint for South African rugby,' Alexander said. 'Since the pioneering first meeting took place in October, we have witnessed how our coaching, conditioning and medical experts all come together in a fantastic show of unity, to collaborate and plot ways to improve South African rugby.'

The next meeting will be held early next year, before the start of the 2017 Super Rugby campaign.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed that the Boks will face France in Pretoria, Durban and Johannesburg in June next year.

June 2017 fixtures:
10 June: Springboks v France – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
17 June: Springboks v France – Kings Park, Durban
24 June: Springboks v France – Airline Park, Johannesburg

Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images

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