Springboks coaches: Five talking points from Rassie Erasmus’ new team

Jared Wright
Harlequins coach Jerry Flannery, ex-Japan coach Tony Brown, Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus and ex-SA forward Duane Vermeulen.

Harlequins coach Jerry Flannery, ex-Japan coach Tony Brown, Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus and ex-SA forward Duane Vermeulen.

There is plenty of change in the Springboks coaching set-up following the 2023 Rugby World Cup as Rassie Erasmus takes on the head coach role again.

SA Rugby have confirmed the new coaching structures with many old faces remaining, while some new minds have been added to the mix.

Following the announcement of the new set-up, Planet Rugby runs through the talking points from an extensive release from the Springboks.

Rassie Erasmus re-signs until 2027

If it was a secret that Erasmus would reprise the role as head coach of the Springboks following Jacques Nienaber’s move to Leinster, it was a poorly kept one, to say the least.

Unless you were still processing the Springboks‘ three one-point knockout victories in the World Cup knockouts, Rassie’s reappointment as head coach will not have come as a surprise, but there was more good news for Bok fans along with his reappointment.

That is he has signed an extension with SA Rugby until 2027, with his previous contract expiring in 2025. The Bok boss has often been linked with positions abroad and his new deal will stop the speculation, at least for the time being.

Meanwhile, SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer also confirmed that Erasmus’ position as director of rugby has been mothballed pending ‘a restructuring of the rugby department of SA Rugby, evolving the high performance and participation needs of the sport.’

While he is still likely to lend a hand here and there, Erasmus’ sole focus will be on the Springboks. This is undoubtedly a positive for the national team and probably Erasmus himself, who may well have been risking burnout if he double-jobbed.

However, a lot of his responsibilities could be filled with the return of the mobi-unit and the addition of an ex-Springbok as a coach.

Duane Vermeulen’s role

Duane Vermeulen has long been tipped for a bright coaching future and having hung up his boots after the Rugby World Cup final victory over the All Blacks, he now makes his first steps into the coaches’ box.

The Bulls were reportedly keen to add him to their payroll as a defence coach while the Stormers held talks with him over a job in their youth set-ups where he would work with the senior team as well.

However, Vermeulen rejected both approaches when the Boks came calling and has taken up an interesting role similar to one that Erasmus and Nienaber have operated in.

He has been confirmed as the third member of SA Rugby’s ‘mobi-unit’, which is a set of coaches who will work with all of the national teams from the schoolboy sides to the women’s and right up to the Springboks.

Erasmus and Nienaber performed similar roles, albeit the former headed up the mobi-unit, during Heyeneke Meyer’s time as head coach. Vermeulen will also work with the URC and Currie Cup teams, and as SA Rugby president Mark Alexander suggests, this position is likely to lead to high honours down the road.

“It also allows us to extend our own coaching base from within the ranks of the Springboks with an eye to the future,” Alexander said of Vermeulen’s appointment.

New additions

Felix Jones joined Nienaber in departing the Springboks set-up after the World Cup, leaving Erasmus with the job of finding a new attack and defence coach.

He has filled the defence coach role with the hiring of Harlequins coach, Jerry Flannery, who he previously worked with at Munster. It is yet to be confirmed if Flannery will make a move to South Africa, but if not, he is also likely to fill one of Jones’ former responsibilities in keeping in touch with the overseas-based Springboks – particularly in Europe.

Meanwhile, former Highlanders head coach and ex-Japan assistant Tony Brown will take on the attack coach role. Brown is renowned for his abilities as an attack coach, transforming the Brave Blossoms into one of the most enjoyable and threatening attacking sides and helping the side reach the knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time – in 2019.

Brown also has a strong understanding of the quality of Japanese rugby, having also worked with the Sunwolves, and will also provide insight into the players plying their trade in the Japanese Rugby League One competition.

Left-field inclusion: Jaco Peyper

Much like Erasmus’ reappointment as head coach, the assistants were not a well-kept secret but Jaco Peyper’s transition to coaching certainly was.

The former referee announced his retirement from match officiating before the 2024 Six Nations kicked off, a tournament he was set to referee in, and will now take up a position with the Springboks as the National Laws Advisor.

Erasmus openly discussed his desire to get a match official in their coaching set-up last year and held talks with Nigel Owens – who ultimately turned down the job. But now he has finally got someone in the role in Peyper, who the Springboks have regularly turned to in the past.

It is becoming a common trend for referees to take up coaching positions, particularly in France, and the Springboks now have one of their own.

If it isn’t broken…

While new faces were inevitable, an old guard still remains in the coaching set-up after winning the British and Irish Lions series and World Cup.

In fact, Mzwandile Stick is the longest-serving member of the coaching team, having joined the Bok set-up under Allister Coetzee in 2016, and has gone on to win two World Cups and the Lions series. He remains with the side and will continue to assist the backs and work as a skills coach for the national team.

Deon Davids (forwards coach), Daan Human (scrum coach), and Andy Edwards (Head of Athletic Performance) all joined the Boks in 2020 and remain in their roles, having re-signed through to 2027 last year.

The trio mentioned above have enjoyed massive success in their areas of expertise and will continue to do so going forward for the Springboks, with their contract extensions coming as no real surprise.

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