Bulls boss Jake White names four new assistant coaches for 2023/24

Bulls director of rugby Jake White has shaken up his club’s coaching ticket, recruiting four new assistants for the 2023/24 season – including a fellow former Test level head coach. Gary Gold was in charge of the USA until last December but failure to reach Rugby World Cup 2023 resulted in the parties going their separate ways and the coach has now ended up in Pretoria on a two-year deal.

A statement read: “The Blue Bulls Company would like to confirm the following coaching appointments to bolster its high-performance department ahead of the new 2023/24 rugby season. Gary Gold, Kennedy Tsimba, Phiwo Nomlomo and Jean Tiedt all join the herd as assistant coaches.

“Gold, who boasts an impressive resume that has seen him traverse across four continents in a career that spans 22 years, joins on an initial two-season contract and will be involved in both the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and Heineken Champions Cup campaigns.

“Tsimba, the 2012 World Rugby hall of fame inductee and former Vodacom Bulls player, arrives at the capital on a three-season contract alongside Nomlomo who was previously with the Durban-based Sharks. Tiedt also arrives at Loftus, having spent time with the NWU Pukke side that were crowned 2023 Varsity Cup victors, to serve as the U21 defence coach as well as form part of the Currie Cup set-up.

“Gold and Tsimba officially joined the club on August 1 while Nomlomo will arrive on August 7 with Tiedt arriving on September 1. Everyone at the Vodacom Bulls welcomes the new coaching members and wishes them a warm stay at Loftus. The club would like to also to thank Russell Winter, Pine Pienaar, Nollis Marais as well as (Edinburgh-bound) Sean Everitt and Hugo van As, who were both on short-term contracts, for their services.”

Bulls DoR White said: “We are pleased to welcome such a high calibre and diverse group of coaches to our franchise. We know that the Vodacom Bulls is a strong brand that attracts the best talent both on and off the field, so we are thrilled to have Gary, Kennedy, Phiwe and Jean join us. I know they are excited to be part of this project and we are all looking forward to having them contribute to our work.

“With the fine margins and increased stakes across the three competitions we participate in, having top quality coaches is important and these four bring that to the table complementing our existing backroom roster.

“In Tshwane, we have one mission and that is we play to win, so the mandate is simple to understand. Now we have assembled an experienced coaching department that must collectively come together to work towards that mission, and I am confident we will achieve our target.”