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Munster Rugby today confirmed the departure of Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus and Defensive Coach Jacques Nienaber. The pair will both return to South Africa at the end of December.
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Confirmed | Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus & Defence Coach Jacques Nienaber will return to SA at end of Decemberhttps://t.co/dgcbgus4c9 pic.twitter.com/vXm7kQoVMJ
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) June 30, 2017
The news does not come as a surprise, as it was widely rumoured that the pair would depart the province in recent months.
Munster Rugby have described the departure as ‘disappointing’.
In a statement on the province’s website Munster Rugby CEO Garrett Fitzgerald said: “With the squad and management returning for preseason this week we can today confirm that Rassie and Jacques will return to South Africa.
“While we understand Erasmus’ reason to return to his home country for an opportunity as the national director of rugby we are disappointed to see him and Jacques both leave.”
“Working closely with the IRFU, Munster Rugby is currently looking to identify replacements, with Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones already confirmed as forwards coach and backline and attack coach respectively.”
The departure was also confirmed on the South African Rugby Union twitter account.
Rassie Erasmus will be re-joining SA Rugby as DOR to oversee national teams, management of comps and development of players, coaches, refs.
— Springboks (@Springboks) June 30, 2017
The tweet suggests Erasmus will return as the Director of Rugby overseeing the Springboks eight national sides, with an eye on developing the next generation of South African players.
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It has long been speculated that Erasmus would return to South African to take up the reins as director of rugby with the Springboks. Despite half-hearted denials, ominously Erasmus refused to issue a straight up clarification of his position in recent months.
Hailing from South Africa, Erasmus won 36 caps for the Springboks. In a playing career that spanned 8 years Rassie lined out for the Free State Cheetahs and the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup, and for the Cats and the Stormers in the Super 12. He served as captain of the Cats, leading them to the 2000 Super 12 semi-finals, and also captained the Springboks in 1999.
After retirement, Erasmus moved into coaching and guided the Cheetahs to Currie Cup glory in 2005 – the Bloemfontein-based team’s first Currie Cup title since 1976.
The following year, his Cheetahs side shared the Currie Cup trophy with the Blue Bulls and he became the first ever coach of the Cheetahs Super Rugby franchise when they were accepted into the Super 14 that year.
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In 2007, the Eastern Cape native served as technical adviser for the Springboks during their Rugby World Cup winning campaign in France before becoming Head Coach of the Stormers and Director of Coaching at Western Province. Erasmus served a second term as technical adviser to the Springboks during the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand before assuming the General Manager High Performance role where he remained until joining Munster at the beginning of the 2016/17 season.
