Defence Guru Jacques Nienaber set to replace Erasmus - report

Following the Springboks World Cup-winning campaign, Rassie Erasmus is set to step down as the head coach of the national side and continue in his role as director of rugby.

Ahead of the World Cup Final, Erasmus confirmed that he would be stepping down despite the Springboks' success.

A number of names have been linked with the role, however, defence guru Jacques Nienaber is reportedly set to take over from Rassie Erasmus as head coach of the Springboks.

According to Netwerk24, Erasmus’ long-time friend and colleague Nienaber is primed to take over as head coach.

The two men have been friends since their military conscription days in the early 1990s. They developed a strong working relationship in the ensuing years, with the physiotherapist-turned-defence coach serving as Erasmus’ right-hand man at the Free State Cheetahs, Stormers, Munster and eventually the Boks.

Erasmus lauded Nienaber’s contribution to the Boks’ revival.

‘I became a coach as soon as I stopped playing. I brought Jacques in as a conditioning coach right away. His passion, knowledge and work ethic around defence was evident even back then.

‘He’s very good with people and in terms of communicating what he wants. He gets the message across brilliantly.’

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