Heyneke keen on Western Force gig

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CAPE TOWN: Discarded former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has reportedly set his sights on the Western Force head coach role left vacant after Michael Foley’s sacking. Meyer had previously been touted as the frontrunner for the director of rugby position at England rugby club Bath, but has now been linked to the head coach vacancy at the Force. Foley was unceremoniously dumped following the Perth-based Super Rugby side’s poor showing in the tournament that currently sees them bottom of the Australian Conference and Australasian Group standings. In the Super Rugby season leading up to the tournament break for the mid-year Test window, the Force have only managed to secure 12 log points from as many games, with 10 losses and only two wins. Meyer will face some tough challenges ahead should he take over the reins left flapping in the wind by Foley, but the former Bulls and Springbok mentor will at least have the remainder of the Super Rugby season to assess his prospects.

“I’ll definitely look at the (Western Force) opportunity if there’s something in the pipeline,” said Meyer. “I think there’s a great opportunity there.”

Most coaches would shy away from the potential disaster that could ensue from filling a role that was left vacant in such an abrupt manner, but Meyer instead views it as a challenge.

“The Force have got a lot of good things going for them,” he said. “Since the Force started I always thought it was a great, great, great place to build a team.

“I’ve always liked the underdog. The big challenge is where you take a team. The challenge is to build a team, to take it and mould it the way you want.

Foley spent some time at Bath as forwards coach before joining the Wallabies as an assistant coach and then taking over as head coach at the Waratahs for the 2012 season, before moving to the Force.

Meyer, in his trajectory to the top Bok job in 2012, enjoyed coaching stints with the SWD Eagles, Emerging Springboks, Leicester Tigers and most notably the Bulls, who he helped guide to a Super 14 title in 2007. - ANA