National team coaching appointments for Raubenheimer, Erasmus
Two very experienced coaches, Stanley Raubenheimer and Sean Erasmus, have been appointed to handle two of SA Rugby’s national teams this year, the Springbok Women and SA Schools sides respectively.
Raubenheimer, the experienced SA Rugby Academy coach, will be in charge of the Springbok Women team on their UK tour in November. He will be assisted by Lungisa Kama and Eddie Myners, both of whom were members of the SA Select Women’s coaching team to England last year.
Erasmus, currently Director of Coaching and First XV coach of Paarl Boys’ High, will coach the SA Schools side in the annual Under-18 series, in Cape Town from 10 to 18 August this year. Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week assistant coach, Mzwakhe Nkosi, has been appointed as assistant coach.
“Both these sides are important in our national teams landscape and I would like to congratulate Stanley, Sean and their assistants on their appointments, and wish them well for the season,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.
“All of them have vast coaching experience, which will certainly benefit their teams on what will tough assingments later in the season.
“Our national women’s programme is very important in the big picture of South African rugby and we are committed to ensuring that we have the proper tools in place for the team to be competitive, especially with an eye on the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
“At the same the SA Schools side is an important development step in the careers of many of our top schoolboy players, which means Sean and Mzwakhe will have a big job to deliver a well-balanced team as these boys prepare for the next step in their careers.”
The Springbok Women will play two Tests against Wales, on 7 and 17 November, as well as games against the UK Armed Forces (2 November) and the Crawshays (also known as the Welsh Barbarians, 11 November), on the tour.
Raubenheimer has vast coaching experience, with his latest position being an SA Rugby Academy coach – in Stellenbosch this year and formerly with the Boland Rugby Academy – where he has served since 2013. His other coaching roles include SWD’s assistant Currie Cup coach, Cats Vodacom Super Rugby assistant coach, Griffons Currie Cup head coach and Western Province Vodacom Cup coach.
Kama has been involved in the KwaZulu-Natal Women’s rugby structures for a number of years, while he also boasts international experience as a former SA U20 women’s assistant coach, which included tours to the USA and London in 2011 and 2013 respectively.
Myners stems mainly from SWD where he served as their Currie Cup First Division forwards coach, SA Rugby Academy head coach, Under-19 and Under 21 head coach and Vodacom Cup head coach. He was also assistant coach to the SA Barbarians and SA President’s XV teams in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
The senior national women’s squad will gather for their next training camp from 7 to 13 October, while the touring squad will assemble on Saturday, 27 October for their holding camp and depart for Wales on Monday, 29 October.
The SA Schools team, sponsored by Coca-Cola, will face France on Friday, 10 August, Wales on Tuesday, 14 August, and England Saturday, 18 August, respectively in the annual international schools competition. The match venues will be announced in due course.
Erasmus, the SA Schools assistant coach last year and SA Schools A team head coach in 2016, guided the DHL Western Province U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week team to top honours in Bloemfontein last season, while he was central to the success of Paarl Boys’ High in the last few seasons.
Ofentse Moeng (team manager), Gershwin Kortje (team doctor), Kim Smith (physiotherapist) and Riefaat Jappie (conditioning coach) make up the rest of the SA Schools management.
The SA Schools team will be announced following the conclusion of the Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week, which will be hosted at Paarl Boys High from Monday, 9 July, to Saturday, 14 July.
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