Meyer named Bok coach

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Zyzzyva

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Heyneke Meyer will be the new Springbok coach after a Special General Meeting of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) ratified his proposed appointment in Cape Town on Friday.

The 44-year-old Blue Bulls rugby executive takes over from Peter de Villiers, who coached the Springboks from 2008 to 2011. He will take charge as head coach of the 1995 and 2007 Rugby World Cup champions for the first time against England in Durban on June 9.

Meyer said he relished the opportunity to make all South Africans proud of the Springboks.

“Having been involved with the Blue Bulls for so long, I’ve experienced first hand how passionate South African rugby supporters are,” said Meyer. “I know the importance of rugby in the South African psyche and will do everything in my power to ensure the Springboks remain among the pace setters of world rugby.

“I’m very happy to accept this enormous honour and massive responsibility,” he said.

Meyer was head coach of the Vodacom Bulls when they became the first South African team to lift the coveted Vodacom Super 14 trophy in 2007. Before that, he steered the Vodacom Blue Bulls to Absa Currie Cup titles in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 (shared).

Meyer also has experience of coaching in the Springbok environment. He served as assistant coach to both Nick Mallett and Harry Viljoen at the Boks. He has also been a Springbok coaching candidate in the past.

“The first time I felt I still had things to achieve at the Bulls, and the second time it was decided to appoint someone else,” he said. “I’d like to thank my family and the Blue Bulls Rugby Union for their unwavering support over the past decade. I hope to keep the country’s rugby supporters united behind the Boks.”

Oregan Hoskins, President of Saru, said Meyer received unanimous support from the General and the Executive Councils of SARU.

“The Springboks are Saru’s top priority,” he said. “Heyneke’s coaching pedigree is second to none in South Africa. He will be an asset to the Boks and South African rugby in general,” said Hoskins.

“I’d also like thank our outgoing coach Peter de Villiers for his passion, hard work and dedication over the past four years. However, it was felt that we needed a man with a new approach and new ideas to take over one of the toughest jobs in South African sport.

“Heyneke has our full support and we know he won’t leave any stone unturned as he strives to take the Boks back to the top of international rugby.”

According to Jurie Roux, Saru CEO, Meyer’s appointment was the culmination of a thorough process during which the best candidates were evaluated as part of a head hunting process before the Exco unanimously opted to make a formal offer to Meyer.

“The Blue Bulls wished to retain his services but his contract contains an exit clause which has been exercised; very few people can resist the call when your country says it needs you,” said Roux.

“The Springboks are the heartbeat of rugby in South Africa and it was paramount to get the best possible candidate to coach the team going forward. We believe we have done that.”

Roux said decisions on Meyer’s support staff will only be taken later, in consultation with the new Springbok coach. “No appointments in this regard have been made,” he said.
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http://www.supersport.com/rugby/springboks/news/120127/Meyer_named_Bok_coach

I thought this deserved a more prominent thread.

I'm extremely happy about this, the guy is pure class.
 
SinghDude said:
Winning rugby is all that matters.

I want my world cup back.
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You mean the winning rugby that generally gets us pomped by the all blacks? Sure we can harp on our world cups but the rest of the time we get nailed by NZ who run the ball.

So no we have not played winning rugby, go look at our tri nations record, that is hardly winning rugby.
 
Meyer turned the Bulls from bottom of the pits to Super rugby champs. They played the old-fashioned SA brand of rugby, ugly at times but still good enough to compete.

Bulls still scored alot of tries, together with a mean defense.
 
Excellent!

Goodbye to that monkey that stopped us winning everything and hello coach with a brain!
 
Last edited:
‘I won’t to make promises I can't keep’

Former Leicester coach Heyneke Meyer, who built the Bulls team that provided the foundation of the Springbok squad for the last eight years, was named as the new South Africa national rugby coach on Friday.

The 44-year-old Meyer, who steered the Bulls to four Currie Cup titles between 2002 and 2006 and their first Super 14 crown in 2007, was appointed on a four-year contract.

“It's truly humbling but also a huge honour and responsibility because the Springboks carry the hopes and dreams of the whole country,” Meyer said at a news conference.

“I want to get the support of everyone behind the team and to do that I have to pick the best possible team. I don't want to make promises I can't keep. It would be easy to promise the world, but I need to plan very thoroughly.”

Meyer succeeds the controversial Peter de Villiers, who won a single Tri-Nations title and beat the British and Irish Lions in 2009 before guiding the Springboks to the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup in New Zealand.

Meyer had initially been the favourite to succeed Jake White in 2008 when De Villiers was appointed, and he subsequently quit rugby before joining Leicester in June 2008.

The qualified sports psychologist has been named by lock Victor Matfield, the most-capped Springbok, as the best coach he has worked under.

The South African Rugby Union (Saru) had head-hunted Meyer, chief executive Jurie Roux said.

“This process started on June 9 last year and the timeline was set to today. We decided to head-hunt the Springbok coach because we knew exactly what we required. Our mandate was simple – to get the best coach to make the Springboks a winning team,” he said.

Meyer said his first task would be to appoint his back-up staff, in consultation with Roux.

“It's very important that we have the best people involved and a lot of them are in contract – if they aren't it means that they're probably not good enough. So there will have to be a lot of negotiation. The national coach shouldn't have an ego and it would be arrogant for me just to rely on my own resources.”

Meyer, who said it was too early to name a captain in the wake of John Smit's retirement, begins his job against England, who travel to South Africa in June for three Tests.

“We have a very tough start against England but I'm up for the challenge and we have brilliant players,” he said. “There are only two types of rugby I know – winning rugby and losing rugby – and I prefer the first one.” – Reuters
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http://www.iol.co.za/sport/rugby/springboks/i-won-t-to-make-promises-i-can-t-keep-1.1221944
 
Matfield said he would play for the boks if Heneke was appointed....
 
I think this is going to make the bok's play even more one dimensional and predictable.
Agree with theone on the first choice.
 
If the Boks play the way the bulls played under Meyer then at least I can boast about falling asleep during a test match that doesn't involve a bat and ball.
 
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