Believe it or not by the time this End of Year Tour is over, current Springbok Heyneke Meyer will be the fourth most experienced Bok coach of all time, overtaking both Rudolf Straeuli and the legendary Doc Danie Craven to claim that spot. The Boks’ 24-15 win over Wales on the weekend, also pushes Meyer up into second place since test rugby readmission. This second place is in terms of both win percentage and a specially devised rating formula which takes the quality of the test opponents into consideration. It’s been quite a turnaround for Meyer from last season. With better results starting to come in, Bok fans are slowly showing more confidence in his decision-making. The wins against a struggling of late Australia have still been pleasing but Meyer is yet to record a maiden test victory over New Zealand in four starts, something that probably should count more against him than it does. Stats aside a Rugby World Cup title might also be required if history is to regard him as a better coach than Jake White.
The Springboks went on to defeat Scotland 28-0 and France 19-10 (first win against the French in France since 1997).
Springbok coach 1992 – 2013 records and rating (based on win % times difficulty %) as at 23 November 2013.
| Coach & Period | P | W | D | L | Ttl W% | NZ W% | Aus W% | Eng W% | Fra W% | New Caps | Boks /yr | Boks /test | Diff % | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K.Christie 1994-1995 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 12 | 8.3 | 0.9 | 64% | 64% |
| H.Meyer 2012-2013 | 24 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 75% | 0% | 75% | 88% | 100% | 26 | 13 | 1.1 | 76% | 57% |
| N.Mallett 1997-2000 | 38 | 27 | 0 | 11 | 71% | 57% | 38% | 67% | 100% | 43 | 14.1 | 1.1 | 75% | 53% |
| A.Markgraff 1996-1996 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 62% | 20% | 50% | – | 100% | 19 | 19 | 1.5 | 83% | 51% |
| J.White 2004-2007 | 54 | 36 | 1 | 17 | 68% | 33% | 55% | 71% | 38% | 39 | 9.8 | 0.7 | 75% | 51% |
| P.de Villiers 2008-2011 | 48 | 30 | 0 | 18 | 63% | 45% | 33% | 100% | 50% | 36 | 9 | 0.8 | 80% | 50% |
| H.Viljoen 2000-2002 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 57% | 0% | 75% | 0% | 33% | 22 | 16.5 | 1.5 | 74% | 42% |
| R.Straueli 2002-2003 | 23 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 52% | 0% | 50% | 0% | 0% | 33 | 16.5 | 1.4 | 73% | 38% |
| I.McIntosh 1993-1994 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 42% | 17% | 33% | 50% | 25% | 34 | 21.9 | 2.8 | 84% | 35% |
| C.du Plessis 1997-1997 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 38% | 0% | 50% | – | – | 9 | 14.6 | 1.1 | 85% | 32% |
| J.Williams 1992-1992 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 20% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 50% | 26 | 26 | 5.2 | 86% | 17% |
| G.Sonnekus 1993-1993 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | 0% | 0% |
@Playa: Not one of the two History already decided he is a “poepol”.
@Bonthuis: Come one, let’s give PDV his props. Some advocate that Jake White wouldn’t have won the world cup had it not been for Eddie Jones – and admit it he made a helluva difference in that backline. At the end of the day, the head coach is the head coach, and that is what the history books will say.
As for Luke Watson…to steal from Gungets Tuft…ja well no fine….maybe a lot of people judged the man too early. History will decide whether he’s a hero or a villain.
@Bonthuis: Situations change and people change! Mallett and White have earned themselves such great respect amongst the SA rugby public in recent times that one hopes that if a time becomes right for one or both of them to return to Bok position, there are no immovable obstacles in the path of this happening. Same goes for Watson, who’s to say he can’t still emerge as a hero of a cause that ALL SA rugby fans can relate to.
@beet: Jokes I know you mean Mallett
@Bonthuis: News Headline: Aussie scrumhalf Nic White has been dropped due to politics
Such a pity Jake White and Nick White were let go due to political reasons, both were at the peak of their powers with the Boks. PDV – really? (You mean John Smit and Victor coaching the side).
Maybe some of Luke Watson’s comments a few years ago are not too far from the truth??
Actually on the whole they have been quite pathetic actually.
@Queenian: Agree with you coaches must be measured on there performance against New Zeeland and nothing else.
HM is a brain dead chump.
Only measurement you can use is wins against NZ so that would put Nick Mallet on top by far that even out weighs WC wins.
Kitch Christie 100% win ratio is impressive and a 100% win against NZ but you must put this into perspective he only played NZ once I can tell you this it would have been 1 out of 5 if he had played them 5 times.
So top 3 without a doubt.
1. Mallet
2. White
3. Christie
Not to sound like a hater, but 0 out of 4 against the All Blacks, and 2 draws against Argentina and a useless England side should surely weigh HM down.Still early days though…I just wish he’d get his selections right, and he’ll be on track to being one of SA’s best ever coaches…and oh ja…beat the All Blacks as well
@Jordaan: Well said Jordaan. Old Nick Mallet was too on track to be one of our top coaches then, bombed for a valid statement.
Heyneke after his Bulls/Super14 poor tenure I am surprised he has progressed as he has. His antics as tries get scored have also scored him big public points!
May his team put the Scots to bed this year, this Saturday
We can’t underestimate the importance of winning World Cups in rating coaches. In that case Kitch Christie and Jake White are the top 2. Heyneke Meyer has a lot still to prove, until he’s beaten the AB’s or won a World Cup he’s not in the same league as Kitch or Jake White.
How some of these guys got to coach the Boks The Lord only knows, Carel Du Plessis (’97 Lions disaster) and Harry Vijoern being the biggest embarrassments – a serious case of jobs for mates!
Second best coach or second best group of players ?
Kitch Christie what a legend! Ex Glenwood Old Boys coach and the coach of our first World Cup victory! Mallet sections best for me followed by White!