Saru Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus and his assistant coaches will help new Bulls coach Pote Human with their preparation for next year’s Super Rugby tournament.
Erasmus' Springbok coaching team of Matt Proudfoot, Mzwandile Stick, Jacques Nienaber and Aled Walters will also be available to help other franchises should they need some assistance, it was revealed yesterday.
Human, who was believed to be shortlisted alongside Deon Davids and Victor Matfield as former Bulls head coach John Mitchell, who is now an assistant coach at England, has cracked the nod to be the top dog at Loftus.
And he didn’t hesitate once to rope in the Bok coaching staff.
Of what they are aiming to do, Erasmus says: “We started making the national panel available to the franchises a number of years ago and we want to continue to forge closer links between the national coaches and the Super Rugby and Pro14 teams.
APPOINTED: Bull Pote Human. Photo: SAMUEL SHIVAMBU/BACKPAGEPIX
“All of the coaches worked with one or other of the franchises in the past year to exchange ideas and expertise and hopefully assist the teams in raising the performance bar.
“Strong performances at franchise level will translate into strong Springbok performances - it’s a win-win.”
While they will help with the skillset of the teams, Erasmus says they will not interfere with the tactics of the various teams.
He adds: “We will assist in generic areas such as skills and conditioning, mauling, scrumming and lineouts.
STRUGGLING: Bulls finished bottom of the SA Conference in 2018. Photo: CHRISTIAAN KOTZE/BACKPAGEPIX
“It will also give the national coaches a chance to discuss individual players with the franchise coaches and work on specific areas for specific individuals.
“But it is not our role to have input on selection or game plan - that can only be determined by the franchise head coach.
“But we do believe this is approach can work for South African rugby in its broadest sense at the start of a very important Rugby World Cup year.”