Rassie on track to join Province

Nick Mallett has been ousted as Western Province director of rugby, and the attention now shifts to his likely successor Rassie Erasmus.

Mallett stuck to his decision not to reapply for the position after the WP board decided to combine the role of rugby director and Super14 coach.

“I have been consistent in my stance on this, and I don’t believe it is a position that can be held by the same person. There is such a lot of pressure on the head coach in South African rugby. The position of director of rugby was created to effectively act as a buffer between the coach and the administration, to ease some of the pressures on the coach. I will not be applying for the job,” said the former ticket-price-questioning-teichmann-dropping Springbok coach.

“I think we need to get some finality on the new coach as quickly as possible. We cannot drag our feet any longer. There are other provinces targeting our players. If there is any more delay we are going to lose out.”

The chairman of the WP board, Pat Kuhn, confirmed the decision.

“We took a decision that henceforth the coach of the Super 14 team will also be the director of rugby. We will be advertising the position, but we know that Nick will not want to do the job. It means we will have a new coach and a new director of rugby next year.

“We need to change things at Western Province so that we can make better decisions. By combining the director of rugby and Stormers coaching positions, the communication structures and management of the franchise would be much better. It is also a big step up from being a Currie Cup coach to a Super 14 coach, so we decided to separate those roles.”

Enter Erasmus.

According to the president of the Free State Rugby Harold Verster, Rassie is contracted to the union until October 2009. But Erasmus’s agent, Frikkie Erasmus, said that Rassie’s contract with the Cheetahs was cancelled when he took up his current position as Springbok technical adviser.

Verster later admitted defeat.

“He said he was feeling the pressure and that he won the Currie Cup twice, so he wanted to get out of the limelight. So we are not sure what he wants and doesn’t want. If he does leave the union, it would be a sad loss because he is a good coach and person. But if a coach or player doesn’t want to be here, we are not going to force him to stay.”

Rassie confirmed that negotiations were proceeding.

“It would have been nice to work with Nick, but Nick Mallett’s future had nothing to do with my desire to coach the Stormers.

“My agent is negotiating with WP on my behalf, so I am not fully informed of what the new job would entail. I am leaving him to fill me in. But at this point in time I am still keen and the development around Nick’s position has not put me off.”