CAPE TOWN – SA Rugby confirmed on Thursday that Matt Proudfoot will resume his role as Springbok assistant coach.
When the new Springbok coaching group was announced earlier this year, there was uncertainty regarding Proudfoot's role within the national set-up, but it is now confirmed that he will be responsible for scrums and lineouts in the place of Pieter de Villiers, who isn't available due to “pressing family commitments”.
Proudfoot served as scrum coach for the Boks over the past two years, but when Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus was officially announced as Bok coach, the revamped Bok coaching group didn't include the former Scottish international.
“After my discussions with Pieter, we jointly came to the conclusion that he would unfortunately not be able to give all his attention to the Springboks, which is fully understandable given his current family commitments,” said Erasmus.
Proudfoot joined the Springbok management team at the national squad’s second four-day alignment camp, which finished in Vanderbijlpark on Wednesday.
“Matt has a good understanding and relationship with the group of players who represented the Springboks the past two seasons and slotted in easily,” said Erasmus.
According to SA Rugby, De Villiers will now focus on various Elite Player Development programmes, assist with the preparations of the Junior Springboks and also the SA Schools team.