Springboks rope in Swys de Bruin

The Springboks will have a new assistant coach when they take on England in June but Lions fans need not despair.

The South African Rugby Union on Friday confirmed that the team from Ellis Park’s mentor, Swys de Bruin, has been roped in on a “consultancy basis” for the three-match series as well as the one-off Test in Washington against Wales.

De Bruin’s involvement is actually the implementation of a new policy by Bok coach Rassie Erasmus, who wants to make Super Rugby franchise coaches part of the national setup.

“I’ve always said that we must improve our communication and cooperation with the local franchise coaches,” said Erasmus.

“They spend much more time with the players, so better cooperation with them can only be a benefit and should be an obvious thing.”

According to Saru, the franchise coaches will be utilised in specific areas, which suggests Erasmus might be banking on a large Lions presence in his Bok backline.

De Bruin is considered a specialist backline and attack coach.

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