Rassie Erasmus’ Bok management team will be confirmed on Thursday, and is expected to include the return of Mzwandile Stick. CRAIG LEWIS reports.

It is an open secret that Erasmus will effectively serve as the de facto Springbok head coach in his official role as South Africa’s director of rugby.

As was the case at Munster, defence guru Jacques Nienaber will work closely alongside Erasmus, while scrum expert Pieter de Villiers has already begun his role as one of the new members of the Bok management. Nienaber and De Villiers will effectively replace Brendan Venter and Matt Proudfoot respectively.

Meanwhile, with backs coach Franco Smith having already confirmed he will not be continuing his involvement with the Boks, Stick is set for an elevation back into the Springbok coaching setup.

Stick originally formed part of Allister Coetzee’s coaching team, but at the beginning of last year, he was redeployed to a role as backline coach with the Junior Springboks.

However, he is understood to be highly regarded by Erasmus, and will now resume a frontline coaching role with the national team in a move that is likely to dominate most headlines on Thursday afternoon.

SA Rugby confirmed in a media advisory on Wednesday that the Springbok management setup for 2018 would be confirmed via an electronic media release at 11.30 on Thursday, followed by a media conference.

In other news on Wednesday, it was confirmed that SA Breweries brand, Castle Free, would be coming in as the new headline sponsor of the Blitzboks, the Springbok Women’s Sevens and the SA Rugby Sevens Academy teams.

The Springbok Sevens will next be in action at this weekend’s Las Vegas Sevens, while the Boks will play their first Test under Erasmus in a historic Test against Wales in Washington on 2 June.

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