Coach
While the Vodacom Cup heads towards two very competitive semifinals this weekend, one small story that will go unnoticed will be the rise of a top young new coach in Peter Engledow, who will take Griquas into their big showdown with the Pumas in Nelspruit confident of victory.
World Cup-winning coach Jake White still has hopes of coaching at the highest level again despite his disappointment at missing out on the Wallabies job last year.
White, who guided South Africa to the 2007 World Cup, thought himself a shoo-in to take over from New Zealander Robbie Deans as Australia coach last year but missed out to Ewen McKenzie.
Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett will step down from the Super Rugby side when his contract expires at the end of the season.
His decision to fall on his sword comes after four years in charge.
Following a strategic meeting by the board of the Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd, it was decided that Vodacom Bulls Head Coach Frans Ludeke, following the completion of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition, will continue in a similar position with the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the Absa Currie Cup.
Former All Black Carlos Spencer has been tasked to guide the Eastern Province Kings in their return to the Currie Cup competition.
Spencer, who joined the Kings in December, has been appointed head coach for the Currie Cup season.
Former Treviso coach, Franco Smith has been appointed as Assistant Coach for the Currie Cup. Smith gained a wealth of experience whilst coaching Treviso.
Former Baby Boks, Lions and Boland coach Eugene “Loffie” Eloff will coach the Border Bulldogs in this year’s Vodacom Cup.
Victor Matfield has revealed his ambitions to coach the Springboks in future.
The cash-strapped Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) on Monday sacked coach Inoke Male in a money-saving move less than a month before they start their defence of the Pacific Rugby Cup.
John Mitchell says that it is time to put his ego aside as he starts a new chapter of his coaching career with UKZN in the Varsity Shield.
The former All Blacks coach has settled in Durban and said that although it is a significant step down from jobs he has held in the past, the decision to take the position was an easy one.
The Eastern Province Kings may be keen, but they are a long way off from securing the services of Gary Gold.
Media reports on Friday suggested the former Springbok assistant coach could be heading to Port Elizabeth – to fill the void left by the departure of another former Bok assistant, Alan Solomons, and New Zealander Matt Sexton.
The Fiji Rugby Union are yet to pay new head coach Ben Ryan any of his salary since he took over the national side this season.
John Mitchell, head coach of Varsity Shield side, UKZN Impi, has attained the services of former Springbok flyhalf Butch James.
According to the Varsity Cup website, the 35-year-old James will be the backline and kicking coach in 2014.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské says they won’t find a replacement for defence coach Michael Horak who will join the Eastern Province Kings later this year.
Samoan legend Brian Lima has resigned as defence coach of his country’s national team after his arrest for assault on his former wife.
Rumours are doing the rounds that former Springbok assistant coach Gary Gold could be the next head coach of the Eastern Province Kings.
Gold was released from his Director of Rugby position at English club Bath in December, and the Kings have shown interest in his services for a while now.
Former Southern Kings assistant coach Brad Mooar will take over the head coaching role for Southland in next year’s NPC.
David Maidza, who coached the Eastern Province Kings’ Vodacom Cup and First Division Currie Cup teams this year, will officially join the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University rugby coaching staff from January.
Maidza has already been assisting with the training of the Varsity Cup Madibaz at NMMU since mid November, but will officially take up the position of head coach next year, replacing Brent Janse van Rensburg.
Warren Gatland has extended his contract as Wales coach until the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
This is the second extension of the contract between the WRU and the New Zealander who was originally appointed as head coach of Wales in 2007.
The exodus in Port Elizabeth continues with confirmation that Southern Kings coach Matt Sexton will leave the union and return to New Zealand this month.
Sexton, who joined the union in June 2012 to assist them in their preparations for their entry into Super Rugby, has decided to return home for personal reasons.
EP Rugby CEO Charl Crous has confirmed that former New Zealand flyhalf, Carlos Spencer, has joined the EP Kings coaching ranks for the 2014 season on a five year contract.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has confirmed that he would be interested in coaching the British and Irish Lions when they tour his country of birth New Zealand in 2017.
Former Italy prop Giampiero De Carli will take up the position as Azzurri forwards coach next season.
Former Springbok wing Chester Williams is back in the country after a coaching stint in Romania and eager to coach a South African team.
One of the worst-kept secrets in Super Rugby has been confirmed – Stephen Larkham will take over from Jake White at the Brumbies, whilst Laurie Fisher will become Director Of Rugby at the Brumbies.
Legendary former Golden Lions coach Pieter Andries (PA) Pelser has passed away at the age of 89.
Argentina named Daniel Hourcade as coach on Tuesday for the Pumas’ tour of Europe and with a view to keeping him on until the 2015 rugby World Cup in England.
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has announced his resignation with immediate effect, leaving the Pumas looking for a coach for their upcoming European tour.
Stephen Larkham has been named in a caretaker coaching duo for the Brumbies with fellow assistant Laurie Fisher in the wake of Jake White’s sudden resignation, but the former Australia flyhalf would like to take on the head role fulltime.
Larkham, who formed one of rugby’s most successful halves partnerships with fellow Brumbies’ player George Gregan, has been the team’s attack coach for the past three seasons, helping the Canberra-based side to the final of this year’s Super Rugby competition.
Brumbies coach Jake White has quit his job as head coach of Super Rugby finalists the Brumbies for personal reasons.
According to reports White has quit the Brumbies and is rumoured to have been upset that he was overlooked for the Wallabies job which was given to Ewen McKenzie.
The New Zealand Rugby Union has initiated a misconduct process with Counties Manukau coach Tana Umaga.
Springbok assistant coach John McFarland says the manner in which they scored was the most pleasing aspect of Saturday’s Soweto hammering.
The Springboks scored nine tries as they got their Rugby Championship campaign off to a perfect start with a 73-13 victory over Argentina at Soccer City.
However, it’s how they scored their tries rather than how many that showed the improvement the team have made over the past 12 months, according to McFarland.
The Irish Rugby Football Union today announced the appointment of John Plumtree as Ireland forwards coach.
Who remembers the old movie, King Solomon’s mines? Well, The Southern Kings, own Solomons… Alan Solomons, is off to dig for gold elsewhere. We’ve known about it, it has been denied, but still came to pass.
Kings Director of Rugby Alan Solomons will part ways with the Eastern Cape franchise after being appointed head coach of Edinburgh.
Brad Macleod-Henderson was on Tuesday confirmed as Sharks coach for the upcoming Currie Cup season.