Current Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has been lying low since returning from the Rugby World Cup, even in the face of a concerted effort by two former Bok captains to see him sacked from his position.
On Monday we covered the ‘Heyneke Must Fall’ letter penned by Wynand Claassen and Divan Serfontein, the former now elaborating on why he felt it necessary to try and drum up support amongst former Springboks. Claassen spoke to Cape Talk earlier today and is quoted here from TimesLive:
“What really instigated this for Divan and myself to send a letter to all the ex-Springboks is because of newspaper reports that SA Rugby has already offered him (Meyer) a new contract and a lot of the presidents of the South African rugby provinces don’t know about it,” said Claassen.
“That’s why we decided we must do something about it. A lot of people on the streets ask what can ex-Springboks do. So we decided to write this open letter to the ex-Springboks.
“Springbok rugby has deteriorated the last four years – especially the last year – and this year we’ve lost five games. Since the (2014) end-of year-tour we lost another two. So it’s seven games in less than a year.
“If you look at the All Blacks, they’ve lost three games in four years. And there’s a big concern about the way we are playing. We are just playing the one style of play. We’re not moving on, we’re not renewing. So basically, it must be (because) of the coach.”
Claassen then spoke about how the letter was received amongst is peers:
“Obviously not everybody is in agreement. There are guys that don’t want to go along with it. We respect it. But we’ve received a tremendous amount of support from not only ex-players, but also the general public.
“I can’t give you names, but there are very well-known people who supported this thing. We’re getting a lot of support, but I think the main thing is that SA Rugby must take note.”
All the more reason to look forward to the SA Rugby Union (SARU) executive meeting in December. There can be no doubting that this kind of pressure will only strengthen Heyneke’s resolve, although his fate now looks beyond his control.
[source:timeslive]
