Western Province says Rassie Erasmus staying put
After rumours suggested the contrary, it seems that the senior professional coach of Western Province, Rassie Erasmus, won’t be moving on to take a position with South Africa’s national rugby team after all.
A story had appeared in a local newspaper with the rather provocative headline “WP loss could be Bok gain if Rassie moves on” suggesting that Erasmus was going to take a position with the Boks, who is in
need of a little help right now.
But to the delight of fans of Western Province, and to the dismay of fans who want to see a Springbok turnaround, Western Province’s official web site didn’t waste much time putting the rumour to bed, with
a post on Wednesday.
“WP Rugby senior professional coach, Rassie Erasmus, is contracted to WP Rugby until the end of 2012 and will not be leaving WP to take up a coaching position with SARU [South African Rugby Union]”.
"Rassie is committed to WP Rugby and is a valued and respected member of the coaching staff. The rumours of a rift and an imminent move have absolutely no basis," said Rob Wagner.
The Boks have been hoping for transformation after a hugely disappointing effort at the Tri Nations tournament this year. They came in with hopes of eclipsing New Zealand as the number one rugby team in the
world, and had planned on defending their trophy from last year’s tournament. Instead they went a dismal 1-5, losing three times to New Zealand and going 1-2 against Australia, a team that they were supposed to take handily.
After that drubbing, there have been calls for a reorganisation of the team, and the big question is, who will step up to take up the new leadership roles? Erasmus is long-time veteran of South African rugby,
including earning 36 caps with the Springboks between 1997 and 2001.
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