Cape Town - Former Springbok flank Rassie Erasmus may leave South African rugby for Ireland.
The Irish Independent newspaper reported this week that Erasmus - who is currently the general manager of the rugby department at SA Rugby - is being courted by Irish club Munster to become their first ever director of rugby.
The newspaper stated that Erasmus was evaluating offers to work in either Europe or Japan after missing out on the Springbok head coach job, with former Stormers boss Allister Coetzee being appointed on Tuesday.
Erasmus had initially been in the running for the post, but had apparently withdrawn from the recruitment process at a late stage after also being considered to be the interim Bok coach for the three-Test June series against Ireland.
It has been reported in the South African media that Erasmus has been unhappy about the fact that SA Rugby delayed the announcement of the new coach to replace Heyneke Meyer, who resigned in December already after the Boks lost to the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup semi-final in October.
The 43-year-old is also understood to have been angered by the constant bickering and in-fighting in the SA Rugby hierarchy, particularly the spat between president Oregan Hoskins and CEO Jurie Roux, following allegations of financial mismanagement against Roux in his previous job at Stellenbosch.
Erasmus would make for an ideal director of rugby at Munster, having coached the Free State Cheetahs to two Currie Cup titles (one jointly), and having been the senior professional coach at the Stormers after that before joining SA Rugby as their high-performance manager.
A creative loose forward who could play in all three positions, Erasmus also won 36 Test caps for the Springboks between 1997 and 2001.
The Irish Independent reported that Erasmus is understood to have already spoken to Munster about the possibility of joining them, with the other candidates being Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder, former Ireland boss Declan Kidney and the now-retired British and Irish Lions captain and Munster legend Paul O’Connell.
The director of rugby position will entail the successful candidate working alongside Munster head coach Anthony Foley, for the first season at least, and will be responsible for the “professional rugby programme and elite player development pathway in the province”.
Meanwhile, the club is also concerned about the fact that their new star signing, Springbok loose forward Marcell Coetzee, has been ruled out for nine months with a knee ligament injury sustained while playing for the Sharks against the Lions in Super Rugby.
But the BBC reported this week that Munster have made contact with Coetzee, who was set to join the club on a three-year deal at the end of the Super Rugby competition. “Marcell is already taking a positive outlook,” said Ulster’s Operations Director Bryn Cunningham.
“He is really excited about getting fitter and stronger than ever before, to excel for Ulster next season and beyond. I spoke with Marcell and his agent over the weekend to express our sympathy with the injury.
“It was incredibly unlucky, but that is the nature of any contact sport. We have been discussing rehab schedules and other finer details, and also an arrival time for next season, which will be finalised in the next few weeks.”
African News Agency