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The man tasked with transforming South Africa’s national green and gold rugby team even likes a sprig of green in his artisanal strawberry juice blends.
This week, a waitress at the trendy Ou Meul Bakery in Welgemoed in Cape Town’s northern suburbs, said Allister Coetzee (52) is a regular visitor at the softly lit coffee shop, where he likes to sip on servings of freshly blended strawberry and mint.
She added that the family – consisting of Coetzee, his wife Dianne, two daughters Melissa and Mariscka, and granddaughter Marissa – are “just wonderful and very friendly”. They live in the affluent suburb of Welgemoed.
Something else you may not have known about Coetzee is that he has played provincial cricket and is a committed Christian.
When Melissa fell pregnant while studying at Stellenbosch University in 2010, Coetzee said he turned to God for strength.
He was disappointed and angry, but found forgiveness in the Bible and today considers Marissa the greatest gift of all.
As the new Springbok coach, he is faced with the mammoth task of transforming South Africa’s national rugby side and will look to heaven for strength again.
“I seek God’s advice on everything I do. I pray about my game plan first, before I take it to the team,” he said in an interview with Christian online portal Gateway News.
“God restored my relationship with my daughter, and now, by the grace of God, she [has completed] her final year in her teaching degree at Stellenbosch University.”
Coetzee’s second daughter, Mariscka, is enrolled at the University of Cape Town. She took to Facebook to praise her father after his official appointment on Tuesday.
“Today our hearts burst with pride,” she wrote.
“Daddy, you have reached a milestone in your coaching career and we cannot be more proud. We are feeling many emotions ... There will be negativity and rudeness, and we understand that’s all part of the job.”
Indeed, controversy was soon to follow.
On Thursday, a Zapiro cartoon showing Coetzee struggling to catch two balls, one marked “winning” and the other labelled “transformation” sparked a Twitter outcry when Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula lambasted it as racist. The cartoon is captioned: “New coach, old challenges.”
Born in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, Coetzee was first inspired to play rugby by his now late father, Phillip.
As a youngster, he represented the Eastern Cape in cricket, as a batsman and wicket keeper. After Phillip died in a car crash, Coetzee’s mother, Elma, raised her four children alone. They all chose careers in teaching.
Coetzee retired as scrum half in 1996 and started his coaching career with the Port Elizabeth Harlequins in 1997. He became head coach of the Stormers in 2010.
His advice to young people?
“You must leave your mark wherever you are. Show people what God has enabled you to do. Don’t make material possessions the priority of your life. Those things are temporary,” he told Gateway News
