Deon Davids rumoured to be next Bok coach
● His four years at the embattled Southern Kings have prepared him for anything rugby throws at him in future, says Deon Davids.
The former Kings coach is a strong candidate to replace Rassie Erasmus in the Springbok set-up after the Rugby World Cup (RWC) winning coach made it clear he was going to step back and resume his role as SA Rugby’s director of rugby.
Though Davids would not confirm or deny whether he had been in talks with SA Rugby about the vacant position, a source told the Sunday Times that discussions between the two parties had started before the RWC. “The discussions centred on a role in the Springbok team set-up specifically; not any of SA Rugby’s age-group teams,” the source said.
Erasmus announced during the RWC that he would be taking a back seat and get on with his normal day job but that he would still involve himself in the running of SA Rugby’s flagship team. He said he will be involved with the coaching of the team when the British and Irish Lions tour here in 2021.
His hand will be on how players are contracted and the Springboks’ playbook.
Naturally, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel in the Bok coaching set-up after the success in Japan. Systems are in place for the team to run smoothly in the foreseeable future and whoever takes the reins will really have to fit into an existing blueprint. Davids is comfortable with that.
“Rassie has done a fantastic job. He has put good structures in place,” said Davids.
“There are a number of good things the team can build on. Rassie built relevant experience in the lead up to the RWC. The team now has two more years to build ahead of the British and Irish Lions tour in 2021. Now it is about seeing who is available, what players need to be exposed to. We have a lot of talent here and we need to understand what needs to be done to advance the team.”
The other big candidate for the headcoach position is Jacques Nienaber, Erasmus’s long-time trusty lieutenant. Nienaber has developed a strong voice in the Bok ranks and his coaching acumen greatly contributed to the fact that the team’s defence was only breached four times during this year’s RWC. Nienaber is yet to be a head coach, however. He has operated in Erasmus’s shadow but is increasingly being recognised as one of the main drivers in the set-up. Ditto Mzwandile Stick, who has become a near indispensable part of the Bok set-up. The attack coach will be an integral part of the coaching set-up and his ability to resonate with players like Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi and others is priceless.
In Japan it was easy to get lost in translation but thanks to Stick there were no muddled messages.
As the Springboks’ six/two split on the bench took hold at the RWC, so too did the importance of the role of forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot. The former prop appears to have cemented his place.
SA Rugby is in no position to make pronouncements on the make-up of the Bok coaching staff just yet. The Boks’ trophy tour has set them back a couple of weeks. “Although we won, we must still have a proper debrief of what happened at the RWC,” said SA Rugby president Mark Alexander.
“The coaching department will have to sit down and come up with a proposal that will have to be considered. They have been away for 22 weeks and we don’t want to put undue pressure on them now. At the same time we need to get going. In the past we left things too late for too long.”