The top 5 South African coaches abroad

Rassie Erasmus

Erasmus won 36 caps for the Springboks as a player and is currently the Director of Rugby at Munster, joining a few months back. Before that he was General Manager High Performance of South African rugby, a position he has held since 2012.

With a playing career spanning 8 years, the 43-year-old played for the Free State Cheetahs, Golden Lions in the Currie Cup, and for the Stormers in the Super 12.

He captained the Springboks in 1999, and also served as captain of the Cats, leading them to the 2000 Super 12 semi-finals.

After his retirement, Erasmus moved into coaching and guided the Cheetahs to a Currie Cup victory in 2005, their first Currie Cup title since 1976.

2007 saw him serve as technical adviser for the Springboks during their Rugby World Cup winning campaign in France, and was appointed as Pro12 club Munster's Director of Rugby earlier this year, taking his skills to Ireland.

Jake White

White is notable for coaching South Africa to victory in the 2004 Tri Nations and the 2007 Rugby World Cup, becoming one of the most renowned coaches of the time.

Among his other decorated achievements with the Springboks, White took the team from 6th on the IRB World Rankings (2003) to 1st (2007) before walking away.

His following coaching role was with the Brumbies, joining for the 2012 season, lifting them from 13th on the ladder in 2011 to second in 2013.

Unfortunately for the Super Rugby franchise, White exited with two years left on his contract because "his heart's not in it".

The 52-year-old's latest venture is overseeing all coaching aspects of Top 14 club Montpellier.

Heyneke Meyer

Meyer, who studied sports psychology at the University of Pretoria, played for the university's rugby team and took on a player-coaching role.

After a bitter-sweet rugby career, he quit rugby and took on senior role in a sports supplement company before being enticed back to the sport with a call to coach the UK’s Leicester Tigers in the Premiership in 2008.

His achievements include winning the Super 14, Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions and standing as a strong contender to succeed Jake White at the helm of Springbok rugby in 2008, but lost to Peter De Villiers, only clinching the Springbok coach title in 2012.

He lead the team to a Rugby World Cup third finish (2015), Rugby Championship second finish (2013, 2014), Mandela Challenge Plate (won 2013, 2014).

James 'Jimmy' Stonehouse

Stonehouse, who represented the Pumas as a player before taking the coaching role in 2008, also coached the Blue Bulls' Women's Sevens side and the Women's national Sevens side that won the Africa tournament held in Uganda.

The 52-year-old became instrumental in the Pumas, leading them to being promoted to the Currie Cup Premier Division in 2010 and again in 2014.

He declined two previous offers from abroad in the hope of landing a job with a South African franchise, but finally accepted an offer from a Japanese club, Toshiba Brave Lupus.

Stonehouse also took part in bodybuilding competitions and won the Mr South Africa competition in 2005 and came sixth in the Mr Universe competition in 2006.

 

Alan Solomons

Solomons was assistant coach during the Springbok’s record run of 17 victories, which included an unbeaten Tri Nations success in 1998.

He coached the Western Province to Currie Cup Premier division finals (1997 and 1998), winning the trophy in 1997, before beginning an impressive three-year term at Ulster in 2001.

Solomons was appointed as head coach of Edinburgh in 2013, with club winning the 1872 Cup derby against Glasgow Warriors for the 1st time in 6 years and becoming the 1st Scottish team to play in a European Rugby final.