Paarl Boys High have appointed Swys de Bruin’s son Neil as the new director of rugby, based on the recommendation of former Springbok captain Corne Krige.
According to Sunday newspaper Rapport, Krige, the vice-chairman of Boishaai’s governing body, was tasked with strengthening the support for first-team coach Sean Erasmus.
As part of this move, de Bruin, the son of ex-Springbok assistant coach Swys de Bruin, has been offered a long-term contract in the newly created role of director of rugby.
His appointment comes after a challenging period for the prestigious school, following a drop in form over the last two seasons.
Boishaai’s first team suffered five losses in 16 matches this year, and six defeats in 19 games last year.
This year’s win rate of 68.75% and last year’s 68.42% are the lowest since 2011. The team also lost 8-30 to rivals Paarl Gymnasium in this year’s Interschools clash.
Despite the setbacks, Krige remains confident in Erasmus’ abilities but acknowledges the need for added support.
“We know what we have in Sean,” Krige told Rapport. “He is a very strong coach, one of the few who managed to beat Grey College four years in a row. You don’t go from being a good coach to a bad one overnight.”
Krige revealed that Boishaai received around 90 applications for the director of rugby role, including some from former Springbok coaches. Ultimately, they settled on de Bruin, who has a wealth of experience, including stints as the Lions’ Super Rugby assistant coach.
“We decided on a director of rugby to oversee structures, improve coaching skills, and manage recruitment,” Krige explained.
De Bruin’s coaching journey began at the Leopards, where he served as the attack coach from 2014 to 2016. He later joined the Lions, taking charge of their high-performance programme before becoming the Super Rugby team’s attack coach in 2018.
More recently, he worked in Japan with Johan Ackermann, serving as attack and backline coach at both NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes and NTT Urayasu D-Rocks until earlier this year.
Photo: Carl Fourie/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
