Can Swys prove a whizz?

THE Ospreys are being linked with former South Africa attack coach Swys de Bruin.

And former Munster full-back Felix Jones, who acted as defence consultant to the Springboks at the World Cup, is also believed to be interesting the Llandarcy-based region.

The pair are said to be among a number of coaches the Ospreys are talking to as they look to recover from the most traumatic season in their history.

De Bruin led the Lions to the 2018 Super Rugby final after assisting Johan Ackermann when they reached finals in 2016 and 2017. Highly regarded -- he has been called one of the “most successful and sought-after coaches in South Africa” and been hailed on social media as a “genius” -- he was appointed South Africa attack coach for the World Cup, only to quit for “personal and medical reasons” before the tournament started.

He had previously left a tour of Australia and New Zealand with the Lions because of a stress-related illness.

But he has vast knowledge of the game and encourages his sides to play attractive rugby. The 59-year-old has been working as a coaching consultant with Southern Kings.

The Ospreys are currently without a head coach and Matt Sherratt will be moving on as attack coach in the summer. De Bruin could be a candidate for one or both of those roles, depending on the structure the Ospreys set in place, while Irishman Jones would be in the mix for the defence-coach job at the region.

He helped South Africa during their recent World Cup-winning success by providing detailed analysis on opposition individuals and defensive structures, having been brought in by Rassie Erasmus, with whom he worked at Munster.

Good enough as a player to win 13 caps for Ireland, Jones did a Masters degree in Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology after finishing as a player.

Whoever the Ospreys bring in will face no easy task after the events of this season, with Sunday’s 33-6 defeat in Munster the latest in a long line of poor results.