Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks staff unveiled: Duane Vermeulen, ex-All Black and Ireland stars included

David Skippers
Duane Vermeulen Jerry Flannery and Tony Brown image 2024.jpg

Duane Vermeulen, Jerry Flannery and Tony Brown are new additions to the Springbok coaching staff.

SA Rugby have confirmed that Rassie Erasmus has returned to the role of Springboks head coach and that he will lead a modified coaching team which includes new additions in Duane Vermeulen, Tony Brown, Jerry Flannery and Jaco Peyper.

Erasmus, who coached the Boks to Rugby World Cup glory in Japan in 2019 and was director of rugby when they repeated that feat in France four years later, will return to coaching the world champions in the absence of former head coach Jacques Nienaber.

Apart from Nienaber, the Boks have also lost the services of attack coach Felix Jones, who has joined England’s coaching staff.

Ex-Ireland and New Zealand stars roped in

Nienaber and Jones’ departures has opened the door for ex-Ireland hooker and Harlequins assistant coach Flannery, who will be in charge of South Africa’s defence, and former All Blacks fly-half Brown, who previously worked as an assistant coach for Japan from 2016 to the 2023 World Cup and was also the Highlanders head coach in 2017, 2021 and 2022. He will be the Boks’ new attack coach.

Flannery and Brown will join the rest of the Springboks backroom team which consists of Mzwandile Stick, Deon Davids and Daan Human, as well as Andy Edwards as head of athletic performance, who were key members of the coaching staff in 2023 and whose contracts were extended midway through last year until the end of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

There is another exciting new addition to the Springbok coaching staff with renowned international referee and four-time South African Referee of the Year Peyper – who recently announced his retirement from refereeing – joining the team as national laws advisor.

Meanwhile, double World Cup-winning number eight Vermeulen, who retired after last year’s triumphant campaign at the global showpiece in France, has also been appointed to a roving coaching role with all SA Rugby’s national teams, which will see him becoming the third member of a mobi-coaching unit, in addition to existing coaches, Franzel September and Bafana Nhleko.

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander welcomed the appointments and is full of confidence the new additions would add immense value to the Bok team for their playing and coaching experience, under Erasmus’ guidance.

“We are delighted to announce that Rassie Erasmus will take over the reins as the Springbok head coach once again following his success with the team since 2018, and we believe that with the continuity in the coaching structures and the exciting additions, we are in good hands in the ultimate objective of claiming a hat-trick of World Cup titles,” said Alexander.

“Tony Brown and Jerry Flannery are both former international players and bring fantastic coaching experience, and their skills will complement Mzwandile Stick, Deon Davids, and Daan Human.

“It is also a huge coup to have a world class referee in Jaco Peyper as a member of the management team and to retain his expertise in South African Rugby, as understanding the referees and their analysis of the laws is critical to any team’s success.

“We are excited about this Springbok coaching team, and we’ll be thrilled to see how the double world champions perform once they return to the field for the first time since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in France last year.”

Alexander is also excited by Vermeulen’s appointment.

“Duane has tremendous experience as a player and will take that IP into the coaching teams of our other national teams to give them an insight into what it takes to be a champion team,” he added.

“It also allows us to extend our own coaching base from within the ranks of the Springboks with an eye to the future.”

Meanwhile, Erasmus, who is recovering from medical procedures following a freak accident, is looking forward to working to the new appointments to his coaching staff and thanked SA Rugby’s leadership for the trust placed in him.

‘Massive honour’

“It is a massive honour to coach the Springboks, and I am grateful for the trust placed in me,” he said. “The main difference between the last four years and this season is that I will be more hands-on at the field sessions.

“In my role as director of rugby in the last four years I continued to oversee the team structures and strategy in conjunction with Jacques and the other coaches, so it should be an easy transition back into the head coach role.

“We already had our first coaching session this week at the hospital, and it’s great to see the enthusiasm among the coaches to get the season underway.”

Erasmus is confident about the depth in the playing ranks available for the Springboks, where several young players have grabbed the opportunities presented to them to become key members of the 2023 team.

Amongst those were the likes of Manie Libbok and Kurt-Lee Arendse, and several players have also come through at the provincial unions.

“One of our key pillars in the last few years was building player depth and we are excited about the talent available to us this season,” said Erasmus.

“Most of the 2023 World Cup-winning players are still available for selection, and several young players now have the luxury of international and World Cup experience, which is invaluable at Test level.

“We have a challenging Test season ahead with a Test Series against Ireland on Saturday 6 and 13 July in Pretoria and Durban, and we face Portugal for the first time ever a week later in Bloemfontein in the Castle Lager Incoming Series.

“We then have an exciting Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign, which features two home tests against New Zealand on Saturday 31 August and 7 September in Johannesburg and Cape Town, before facing Argentina in Nelspruit on Saturday, 28 September.

“With the coaching team finalised, we can now focus on planning for the season and the next few years.”

SA Rugby’s chief executive Rian Oberholzer said that the role of director of rugby had been phased out pending a restructuring of the rugby department of the governing body to meet the evolving high performance and participation needs of rugby in South Africa.

The off-field management team will be announced following the Boks’ first alignment camp.

New Springbok coaching team

Rassie Erasmus (head coach), Mzwandile Stick (assistant coach), Deon Davids (assistant coach), Daan Human – (assistant coach), Tony Brown (assistant coach), Jerry Flannery (assistant coach), Andy Edwards (head of athletic performance)

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