Rassie Erasmus Archives - SportsNewsIreland

Munster sign Springbok Marnus van der Merwe

Breandán Ó hUallacháin — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 20:41:35 +0000

Munster Rugby and the IRFU have confirmed the signing of Springbok hooker Marnus van der Merwe on a two-year contract ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The 29-year-old Van der Merwe’s move will be subject to the granting of a valid work permit.

Van der Merwe “excited and honoured”

Commenting on the news, van der Merwe said:

“I’m excited and honoured to be joining such a prestigious club, with such a proud rugby history. I want to finish the season strong with the Scarlets, before tackling this new challenge with Munster.”

The powerful South African marked his international debut with two tries against Georgia last summer.

He also helped the Springboks to the Rugby Championship title, featuring in the wins over New Zealand and Australia.

Debuted in PRO14 in 2018

From the province of Mpumalanga, van der Merwe played underage rugby with the Pumas before making the move to Cheetahs, where he made his PRO14 debut in 2018.

After winning the Currie Cup with Cheetahs in 2023, he joined Scarlets in 2024. His first season in Wales saw him named in the URC Elite XV alongside Craig Casey and Tom Farrell.

His strong form in 2024/25 earned an international call-up from Rassie Erasmus and he made his first three appearances for the Springboks last year.

He has made 38 appearances for the Scarlets since his debut in September 2024.

Costello welcomes new signing

Munster Rugby General Manager Ian Costello said of the southern province’s newest signing:

“He has been one of the best hookers in the URC over the past two years resulting in a call up to the Springboks squad.

“He is an physical, abrasive hooker, very strong in the set-piece, excellent over the ball, and now has demonstrated his ability to perform at international level.”

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Felix Jones Returns to Springboks Coaching Staff

JoeNa Connacht — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 10:38:06 +0000

Felix Jones Returns to Springboks Coaching Staff After England Exit and Munster Links

Felix Jones is officially returning to the Springboks coaching team from 1 March 2025, reuniting with Rassie Erasmus after his departure from England, SA Rugby confirmed today. Jones, a key figure in South Africa’s 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cup triumphs, had long been expected to make a move after leaving his role with England late last year.

His next step had been the subject of intense speculation, with many believing he could return to Munster Rugby, where he previously played and coached. However, Munster appointed Donk MacMillan as their new head coach yesterday, clearing the way for Jones to rejoin the Springboks.

Jones Reunites with Erasmus After England Departure

Jones originally joined the Springboks ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where he played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in South Africa’s victory. His influence continued in 2023, with his tactical analysis and defensive expertise helping the Boks secure back-to-back titles.

After the World Cup, Jones moved to England Rugby under Steve Borthwick, but his stint was always viewed as a short-term arrangement. His departure from England had already been announced months ago, fueling speculation about his next move. While Munster was seen as a potential destination, Erasmus wasted no time in bringing him back into the South African setup.

What Jones Brings to the Springboks in 2025

Jones’ return is a significant boost for the Springboks as they prepare for key challenges, including the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour and the 2027 Rugby World Cup. His strengths in:

• Defensive structures

• Opposition analysis

• Game-planning and tactical adjustments

With his return to the Springboks now official, Jones will be expected to hit the ground running as South Africa looks to maintain its dominance on the world stage.

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South Africa Side For Third Lions Test Announced

JoeNa Connacht — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 12:25:51 +0000

South Africa has announced the side that will face the Lions in the third and final test of the series this weekend.

The squad includes two changes to personnel and a positional switch in his starting XV for the final test.

2019 World Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph Du Toit and scrum-half Faf De Klerk are both out of the series decider through injury.

Franco Mostert moves to flanker to cover for Du Toit while Montpellier scrum-half Cobus Reinack comes into the side in place of De Klerk, who has been ruled out due to a muscle strain in his leg.

Lock Lood de Jager is drafted into the starting XV to take Mostert’s original position.

Inside centre Damian de Allende will become the third Springbok in the Castle Lager Lions Series to reach the career milestone of 50 Test caps when he starts in Saturday’s decider in Cape Town.

De Allende will be paired with Lukhanyo Am and the duo in midfield.

Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe will play on the wings once again with Willie Le Roux offering support for them at full-back.

Jasper Wiese wears the number eight shirt for the second week running in the series and South Africa captain Siya Kolisi and Mostert will combine with him to form the back row.

De Jager will be joined by Eben Etzebeth in the second row while the front row will consist of Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe.

Head coach Jacques Nienaber opted to name three backs on the bench, with fly-half Morné Steyn joining Herschel Jantjies and Damian Willemse in the matchday 23.

It is the second time in the series that the coach has gone for a 5:3 split on the bench.

Springbok Squad v British & Irish Lions Third Test
15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 64 caps
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Toulouse) – 16 caps
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 17 caps
12 – Damian de Allende (Munster) – 49 caps
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 16 caps
10 – Handré Pollard (vice-captain, Montpellier) – 51 caps
9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 15 caps
8 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers) – 2 caps
7 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 42 caps
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 53 caps
5 – Lood de Jager (Sale Sharks) – 47 caps
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Toulon) – 88 caps
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 41 caps
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers) – 39 caps
1 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 50 caps

Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 36 caps
17 – Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls) – 45 caps
18 – Vincent Koch (Saracens) – 22 caps
19 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps
20 – Kwagga Smith (Yamaha Júbilo) – 9 caps
21 – Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers) – 13 caps
22 – Morné Steyn (Vodacom Bulls) – 66 caps
23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 9 caps

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Lions Announce Team For Second Test v Boks

JoeNa Connacht — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 09:38:13 +0000

The British and Irish Lions have announced the side that is set to face South Africa in the second test in Cape Town this Saturday.

Three changes have been made to the side that beat the Springboks 22-17 in the first test of the series last Saturday.

Conor Murray comes into the side at scrum-half in place of Scotland’s Ali Price.

Chris Harris takes the number 13 shirt this weekend ahead of Saracens and England player Elliot Daly.

Mako Vunipola starts at loosehead prop after an appearance off the bench at the weekend.

Alun Wyn Jones will captain the side once again after completing 80 minutes just 28 days after he dislocated his shoulder against Japan.

Man of the Match Maro Itoje remains on the side along with England teammate Courtney Lawes, who also made a big impression with his work rate.

Ball-carrying machine Jack Conan will look to add to his twelve from the first test with a second consecutive start at number eight.

Tadhg Beirne is the only Irishman available off the bench.

The second test against South Africa will be shown live on Sky Sports with the match kicking off at 5 pm.

British and Irish Lions: Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland); Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, England), Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby, Scotland), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster Rugby, Ireland), Duhan van der Merwe; Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Wales), Conor Murray (Munster Rugby, Ireland); Mako Vunipola (Saracens, England), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby, Ireland); Maro Itoje (Saracens, England), Alun Wyn Jones – captain (Ospreys, Wales); Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, England), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, England), Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby, Ireland) #839

Replacements: Ken Owens (Scarlets, Wales), Rory Sutherland (Worcester Warriors, Scotland), Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England), Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby, Ireland), Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby, Wales), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland), Owen Farrell (Saracens, England), Elliot Daly (Saracens, England)

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WATCH: Lions 1st Test v South Africa 2009

JoeNa Connacht — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 12:48:30 +0000

The British and Lions will play South Africa for the first time in 12 years on Saturday evening after completing their warm-up tests.

The team selected by Warren Gatland and his selectors scream set-piece play, which is a big strength of Rassie Erasmus’ South Africa side.

It is an aspect of the game that has been woven into the DNA of South African throughout time, with the first test in 2009 being a great example of that.

One thing the 2021 Lions will not want to do is reveal their trick plays too early like Ian McGeechan’s 2009 team did after seven minutes in Durban.

Their (fantastic) move was stopped on the try-line by Jean De Villiers and that moment set the tone for the first half – frustration.

Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira dominated the Lions and was a living, breathing nightmare for Lions tighthead Phil Vickery.

Their lineout was filled with easy targets to win the ball, including Victor Matfield.

Stephen Jones, although brilliant on the ball when the Lions fought back, missed some early penalties, which would have won them the game had they gone over.

Francois Steyn, who is in the 2021 Springbok squad, and former Ulster star Ruan Pienaar shone with their territorial kicking, constantly applying pressure to the Lions’ starting fullback Lee Byrne.

When Rob Kearney entered the fray, things got better for the 2009 Lions but they were down 26-7 after 50 minutes.

The touring side’s best moments in the game came from their centre partnership, Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll.

Parallels can be drawn to the upcoming Lions centre partnership of Henshaw and Daly and the 2009 duo.

Roberts, much like Henshaw, is a world-class crash-ball option that can use his power to burst through defensive lines.

Daly is a facilitator, an extra wide man – not on the level of Brian O’Driscoll, but is anyone?

Brian O’Driscoll’s mazy runs and Roberts’ steamrolling carries brought life into a deflated Lions side in the first test in 2009.

Tom Croft benefitted from O’Driscoll’s mazy runs and scrum-half distributor Mike Phillips also got over the line thanks to a space the Lions were able to open up with their physicality in the final 30 minutes.

The Springboks’ physicality proved to be too much to handle for most of the first test but the lack of a bomb squad let McGeechan’s men back into it.

However, their trick plays, namely O’Driscoll using a dummy runner to open up space for himself and an inventive lineout involving Jamie Heaslip did not go to plan.

Ugo Monye was unable to convert a second time late into the game, having been the final person in the first trick play.

Gatland will have to wait for the right time to play his cards right in this tour if he is to avoid the mistakes that were made in 2009.

The 2009 Lions could have won the series without those mistakes against the 2007 World Champions.

A repeat of the same scenarios will only spell disaster.

British and Irish Lions: 15 Lee Byrne (Ospreys/Wales), 14 Tommy Bowe (Ospreys/Ireland), 13 Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster/Ireland), 12 Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues/Wales), 11 Ugo Monye (Harlequins/England), 10 Stephen Jones (Scarlets/Wales), 9 Mike Phillips (Ospreys/Wales), 8 Jamie Heaslip (Leinster/Ireland), 7 David Wallace (Munster/Ireland), 6 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers/England), 5 Paul O’Connell (Munster/Ireland – captain), 4 Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys/Wales), 3 Phil Vickery (London Wasps/England), 2 Lee Mears (Bath/England), 1 Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues/Wales).

Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees (Scarlets/Wales), 17 Adam Jones (Ospreys/Wales), 18 Donncha O’Callaghan (Munster/Ireland), 19 Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues/Wales), 20 Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers/England), 21 Ronan O’Gara (Munster/Ireland), 22 Rob Kearney (Leinster/Ireland).

South Africa: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements: 16 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Morné Steyn.

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