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After three months of soul-searching after arguably the worst year in the history of the Springboks, you would think the bosses at SA Rugby would come up with a better solution to try and remedy the dire situation than just demoting an assistant coach. Backline coach Mzwandile Stick was the only casualty following after SA Rugby's coaching review, while Cheetahs coach Franco Smith, who accompanied the Boks on their disastrous end-of-year tour in 2016 as a backline consultant, has been added to the management team. The only other change looks like the possible return to South Africa of Brendan Venter as the Boks' defence coach. In a statement sent out late on Monday afternoon, SA Rugby "reaffirmed its support for Springbok coach Allister Coetzee" and 90 percent of his management team. Obviously the Springboks didn't look clueless enough in 2016 to necessitate them to make drastic changes, especially pertaining Coetzee, who seemed to lose the plot in terms of the Boks' game plan and his selections towards the end of the year. It's difficult to see how this current coaching group can take the Boks forward. They looked like deers caught in the headlights when they lost a staggering eight Test matches in 2016, which included a shock defeat by Italy. The decision to make Stick the fall guy shows that SA Rugby still lacks backbone, even after a change in the presidency and executive in 2016. They are still ignoring the warning lights. The Bok engine is not running on all eight cylinders and is in desperate need of an overhaul. It also needs a new driver who can negotiate his way past the potholes of international rugby. South African rugby needs dynamic leadership on and off the field - a boardroom of people not afraid to make the unpopular decision and a coaching staff who can take the players to another level. England is such a great example of how an innovative and free-thinking coach, who is in touch with the modern game, can change a country's fortunes.  England's transformation under Eddie Jones over the last year has been unreal. Since they bombed out of their own World Cup in 2015, they have gone 17 matches without defeat. If they beat Scotland at Twickenham on 11 March, they will equal the All Blacks' world record of 18 successive wins. These days England play an all-encompassing brand of rugby. To play such a game, where defence and attack are equally important during the 80 minutes, you basically play the situation, whether it is to kick or run the ball from your own 22. You have to be really fit and have great skills. I can honestly say I haven't seen an England team, not even the great team of 2003, play with such a mix of power and flair, and with such great awareness and skill. They make great decisions on attack and defence, even when the opposition comes with surprise tactics like Italy did during their Six Nations clash this past weekend. I wonder how the Boks would have responded if they came up against such sly tactics. But then it occurred to me that the South African team actually lost to Italy in Florence last year. SA Rugby needed to be bold after an awful 2016. They needed to show decisive leadership to try and remedy their own mistakes and that of the Springbok coaching staff. But what they are doing is sitting and hoping that things will improve, and that this coaching staff will magically find their touch and make the Boks great again. Only time will tell whether SA Rugby's faith in the current coaching staff will be rewarded. Maybe their secret meetings will lead to the type of revival that will make most rugby pundits eat humble pie. In the meantime, though, you have to feel for Stick, who has been thrown under the bus by the people who appointed him last year. But hopefully he won't be alone on the sidelines if things go pear-shaped again this year.
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