Allister Coetzee off to rocky start as Namibia lose to Ivory Coast – OUCH!

Former Springbok coach Allister Coetzee saw his tenure as Namibia’s head coach get off to the worst possible start on Saturday when they went down to the Ivory Coast in Abidjan.

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The match, which was a 2023 Rugby World Cup qualifier, saw the 25th-ranked Namibians lose 24-13 to their 42nd-ranked opponents.

Namibia now must beat Madagascar on Wednesday or they will fail to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1995 (when they lost 13-12 to the Ivory Coast in qualifying).

Despite the unavailability of several players, 12 of those in the 23-man squad represented Namibia at the 2019 World Cup.

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Coetzee, now 58, coached the Stormers (2010-2015) and the Springboks (2016-2018) before joining the Japanese side Canon Eagles.

He parted ways with the Canon Eagles in 2020.

Coetzee’s record at the helm of the Springboks read: Played 25, won 11, lost 12, drew 2 for a win percentage of 44%.

Allister Coetzee took over as Namibia coach from Johan Diergaardt who quit the role in December 2020.

His contract runs until the end of the 2023 World Cup in France.