Boks 'hitchhike' into the future
Not only has he named a number of fresh young faces in his 31-man Springbok squad for the three-Test June series against Ireland, but he also threw the players a massive curve ball when they assembled at the Cape Town international airport.
The players were split into groups of three and each group was handed an envelope. In the envelope was a task they needed to complete within a specific community.
The trick to this was that the players needed to find their own way of getting to those communities.
Areas visited included: Khayalitsha, Gugulethu, Hamiltons, Villagers, the Springbok Experience Museum, City Park in Athlone.
At these venues, the players needed to help out and serve the communities in one way or another by either running a coaching course or assistance with maintenance
This evoked the players to turn to social media to ask the general public to assist them.
On completion of their task, the players were then handed their second envelope which stated they now needed to make their own way to Stellenbosch Academy of Sport – the training base for this week.
Once again, the players hiked and came up with unique ways of completing the task.
All the players travelled into Stellenbosch by road, with the help of the general public
Coetzee said despite the "sore and stiff" bodies from the previous day's Super Rugby derbies, the players embraced the unique 'welcoming' ceremony.
"With the plan we had for the day, and what I seeing there is quite a hype and a buzz around, it seems the players enjoyed the way they assembled at SAS and the project[s] they had to compete," Coetzee told a media briefing at SAS.
"It was stimulating and there is really a good vibe," he added.
He described the academy as an "ideal" venue for the training camp.
"It has it all," he said of SAS, adding: "The big thing for us is to ensure that we become one team, to gel as quick as possible.
"Having a place like this is an ideal place, where we walk to the field, where we have the treatment room next to the team room.
"Here we do things together as a team – that is why this venue is so ideal.
"To become a team [is] massively important this week.
"We are looking forward to get onto the field, but we won't be stupid.
"We understand that players are coming off 12/13 weeks of tough Super Rugby.
"When we get onto the field we will see effective training and preparing properly for the first Test [against Ireland] on June 11."
@rugby365com
Helping out a mate in the gym and motivating him a bit! @jacok6 @SerfonteinJan #loverugby pic.twitter.com/mfa1a8EOi9
— siyamthanda kolisi (@kolisi1) May 29, 2016
Thank you very much we got a lift to mzolis off we go…#loverugby pic.twitter.com/pP7meAoknP
— Lionel Mapoe (@13LionelMapoe14) May 29, 2016
On our way #loverugby @Springboks @Smile904FM @Doogz #lood pic.twitter.com/XUR0oLWdsY
— elton jantjies (@jantjies_elton) May 29, 2016
