SA Rugby’s announcement that Jacques Nienaber will be stepping down as head coach of the Springboks has opened up the conversation about the options to replace him, and possibly Rassie Erasmus.
On Saturday morning, SA Rugby confirmed that Nienaber will not continue as Bok head coach beyond the 2023 World Cup in France. He will be taking up a role with Vodacom United Rugby Championship giants Leinster next year.
Nienaber’s departure not only opens up the inevitable post-World Cup conversation around the Springbok head coach, but also begs the question of Erasmus’ future with the team.
Erasmus: Stay or go?
Erasmus is contracted as SA Rugby director of rugby until 2025 and there are reports that he will play a role in appointing Nienaber’s successor.
Erasmus and Nienaber have been inseparable throughout their coaching careers, as it was the former who gave the latter his first coaching job at the Cheetahs in 2005.
It is possible that, in the wake of Nienaber’s departure, Erasmus activates the exit clause in his contract, if he gets a good offer to coach abroad. Erasmus’ desire for a new challenge would be fuelled if the World Cup campaign in France does not go according to plan.
If Erasmus does choose to leave before the appointment of Nienaber’s replacement, SA Rugby would have to make a strategic decision about the future of the Bok management team – either appoint an experienced head coach who operates without a director of rugby, or find a replacement director of rugby and a head coach who can work together.
POLL: Pick the next Bok coach!
SA-based candidates
Current Bok assistant coaches Deon Davids and Mzwandile Stick are reportedly early favourites for the job. Davids was appointed as forwards coach in 2020 after guiding the under-resourced and cash-strapped Southern Kings in Super Rugby and the Pro14.
Stick, meanwhile, was brought back into the Springbok coaching fold by Erasmus in 2018 and has been hailed for his contribution as a skills coach after being dumped as an assistant during Allister Coetzee’s tenure with the team.
However, neither of these two has top-level head coaching experience. Other than his role at the Southern Kings, Davids has served as a head coach at the Boland Cavaliers and SWD Eagles, while Stick was previously head coach of the Kings’ U19 and Vodacom Cup teams.
If Erasmus chooses to depart, the appointment of a relatively inexperienced head coach – such as Nienaber was – would likely require a new director of rugby in a hands-on role.
Outside the current Bok camp John Dobson and Jake White have completed massive turnaround projects at the DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls respectively.
Dobson has previously worked with Erasmus at DHL Western Province but hasn’t had top-flight coaching experience anywhere other than the Western Cape.
When he was first appointed as Stormers head coach in 2019, Dobson said in an interview with SA Rugby magazine that he did not see himself taking over the Springboks.
“With regard to head coaching, this Stormers job is the zenith of my ambition and probably what fits South Africa. If there’s ever a chance of helping the Boks with the things that I am good at, I would love to do that.”
White, meanwhile, is South Africa’s most experienced option, having won the World Cup when he was Springbok coach between 2004 and 2007. However, his extensive experience raises questions about whether he would be able to work under Erasmus, and whether he would be better suited to the director of rugby role, which he currently fulfils at the Vodacom Bulls.
Former Springbok assistant coach Gary Gold is available after stepping away from his role as head coach of the USA Eagles. Gold and Erasmus worked together at Western Province and then again when Erasmus consulted to the Boks at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Former Sharks head coach and All Blacks assistant coach, John Plumtree is another experienced option to take over from Nienaber. However, the New Zealander has been spotted at Kings Park amid reports that he will return to the Shark Tank as head coach.
Candidates abroad
It is unlikely, but there are a couple of South African head coaches the Springboks could turn to.
Former Cheetahs head coach Franco Smith has revitalised Glasgow Warriors, former Lions coach Johan Ackermann has continued his coaching career in Japan after leaving Gloucester, while former Bok assistant coach Johann van Graan (now at Bath) was handpicked by Erasmus to take over at Munster in 2018.
Foreigners such as Dave Rennie (ex-Wallabies) and Ronan O’Gara (La Rochelle) are long shots to be considered.
Photo: Mark Lewis/Huw Evans/Shutterstock/BackpagePix
