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Victor Matfield names his preferred next Springboks head coach
By Kim Ekin
Former Springboks captain Victor Matfield has named his preferred candidates to take over from Jacques Nienaber as Springboks head coach from 2024 onwards.
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Nienaber, who was an assistant previously under Rassie Erasmus, has landed a new gig with United Rugby Championship powerhouse Leinster and will step down from international duty after the Rugby World Cup.
The 127-Test veteran lock wouldn’t pick any of the head coaches currently in South Africa or any of Nienaber’s assistants, instead preferring ex-pat South Africans currently overseas.
Former Emirate Lions head coach Johan Ackermann, who took the Super Rugby side to two consecutive finals before leaving for Gloucester, was at the top of his list.
“I think there are three very strong candidates,” Matfield told SA Rugby Magazine.
“Johan Ackermann was very successful with the Lions, Franco Smith has done well in a few places and then you have Johann van Graan, who coached Munster and was an assistant coach in many Springbok tests,”
“If I had to choose, it would be between Van Graan and Ackermann.”
Van Graan spent five years in Munster, replacing Erasmus at the Irish club in 2017, before joining Bath as head coach in the Gallagher Premiership last year.
World Cup-winning coach Rassie Erasmus is still the Director or Rugby until 2025, so the Springboks’ new head coach would have to have his stamp of approval.
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Matfield implored the decision-makers to employ a South African who knows what style works for them.
“There is a specific style that works for South Africa. We’re never going to play like Leinster. If we do that, we won’t win a trophy,” he said.
“South African players’ thought processes are different. You have to create a different environment for them to be at their best.”
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