Saru to head-hunt Bok coach
by Gavin Rich 17 November 2011, 17:56
The South African Rugby Union has confirmed that the next Springbok coach will be head hunted by them.
The Saru executive council decided at a meeting in Cape Town on Thursday not to advertise the position or to invite applications, as has been done before the selection process for the past few Springbok coaches. Instead a short-list will be drawn up by the Exco to fit criteria they have identified as important for the demanding requirements of the role.
This does not however mean that current Bok coach Peter de Villiers, who announced recently that he would put in an application for the job were applications asked for, has been ruled out. On the contrary, Saru chief executive Jurie Roux has confirmed that as the incumbent national coach, De Villiers will be assured of a place on the shortlist.
“This is the most important decision we have to make as Saru and appointing the best man for the job is critical,” said Roux.
“The skills and qualities required by a Springbok coach are confined to only a small number of potential candidates.”
Most would agree with Roux’s view, and would welcome the announcement that Saru are this time not going to go through the charade of making the job available to all comers. Hopefully they should also desist from the practice of putting candidates that they identified through technical tests as it should be considered a given that anyone deemed good enough to be on a hand-picked short-list for the Bok job should be technically adept.
Roux said the Exco hoped do confirm an appointment by early in the New Year, which might be a bit late for the Super Rugby franchise chief executives who approached Saru before the World Cup and pleaded with them to get the process done as quickly as possible so as not to interfere with their Super Rugby preparations.