South African Rugby bosses look set to implement a new system in which the six South African Super Rugby coaches get together to discuss player selections for the Springboks.
South African Rugby held their annual general meeting on Friday and the General Council agreed on the appointment of the new Springbok coach.
Ratification by the Council which is made up of the 14 member unions of SA Rugby is the final step in the constitutional process to appoint a coach.
Mr Hoskins said that now that the final governance hurdle had been cleared the formal completion of the new coach’s contract and of that of his management team could be completed.
“We are happy to have reached this point and are particularly excited with our final choice,” said Mr Hoskins who said that the new coach would be named officially at a media conference on 12 April.
“Today’s ratification triggers the final part of the process. We’re looking forward to being able to confirm our choice publicly.”
Afrikaans newspaper Rapport stated on Sunday that all six South African Super Rugby coaches – Nollis Marais (Bulls), Franco Smith (Cheetahs), Johan Ackermann (Lions), Gary Gold (Sharks), Deon Davids (Southern Kings) and Robbie Fleck (Stormers) will meet with the new Bok coach – set to be Allister Coetzee – on a weekly basis to discuss their players.
Long-serving Bok selector Peter Jooste has been reappointed to work with the new coach, whose appointment was ratified by the SA Rugby General Council on Friday, but who will be revealed to the public on April 12.
Former Bok coach Ian McIntosh will not continue as a selector, with the Super Rugby coaches’ input preferred, while SA Rugby’s high-performance manager Rassie Erasmus will also have an advisory role in the selection process.
SA Rugby president Oregan Hoskins said after the AGM on Friday that Erasmus and the rest of his high-performance department – which includes Johann van Graan, Chean Roux, Louis Koen and Jacques Nienaber – have been working hard since Heyneke Meyer resigned in early December to put plans into place for the 2016 international season.
They have been monitoring players’ performances in Super Rugby, as well as identifying dates for possible Bok training camps before the three-Test series against Ireland, which starts on June 11 at Newlands in Cape Town.
“We have a rugby department, so I would like to think he (the new Bok coach) will hit the ground running. It’s not going to start when he starts working,” Hoskins said. “They’ve been working hard from last year in terms of having a programme in place already for this year. It’s not going to entail the new coach coming in and having to start anew.”
Rapport newspaper said that the new Bok coach is likely to have a radically reduced management team of around 12, which is well short of the 20 Meyer had at last year’s Rugby World Cup in the UK.
With Absa having pulled out of sponsoring rugby, SA Rugby are also busy negotiating with potential suitors to support the Boks and the first round of the Currie Cup, which starts on April 8, with an announcement expected in the next two weeks.
