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'It is not our role to have input on selection or gameplan' - Erasmus explains Super Rugby duties
By Ben Spratt
South Africa director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and his backroom staff will be made available to assist the country's Super Rugby teams in the 2019 season.
SA Rugby announced on Tuesday that Erasmus, assistant coaches Matt Proudfoot, Mzwandile Stick and Jacques Nienaber and head of athletic performance Aled Walters can be utilised by the nation's franchises.
The Bulls, the Lions, the Sharks and the Stormers can invite the coaches to join them, with Erasmus believing this will assist South Africa ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Erasmus will join the Bulls for pre-season and said: "We will assist in generic areas, such as skills and conditioning, mauling, scrumming and line-outs.
"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 gameplan - that can only be determined by the franchise head coach.
"We believe this is an approach that can work for South African rugby in its broadest sense at the start of a very important Rugby World Cup year."
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The Bulls also finally confirmed their new Super Rugby head coach to replace John Mitchell, who left to take a defence coach role with England alongside Eddie Jones.
Former Springboks lock Victor Matfield had been heavily linked to the role, but it’s believed he turned down the chance, forcing the Bulls to look elsewhere.
Southern Kings coach Deon Davids was also rumoured to be a contender, but instead they’ve chosen Pote Human, who led the Bulls during this years Currie Cup.
He will step up for the new 2019 Super Rugby season, looking to improve their disappointing 12th-placed finish, with only the Reds, Blues and Sunwolves below them.
Watch: Bulls coaching announcement
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Borthwick has obviously earned the right to expect people to look elsewhere when the sort of personal problems likely at the heart of Jones' departure occur but it's hard to believe he's, if not entirely to blame, at least most of the problem.
England see between choices in every aspect of their play
Go to commentsBM My rugby fanaticism journey began as a youngster waking up in the early hours of the morning with a cup of coffee to watch the Boks play the ABs on that 1981 rebel tour, where we lost the last game in the dying seconds to a penalty, and ended up losing the series 2-1. Danie Gerber, Naas Botha, Ray Mordt, and DuPlessis, to name a few; what a team! I believe we could've won another World Cup with those boys playing in their prime.
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