Johan Ackermann has kept his predecessor's assistant coaches under contract despite a potential role redundancy.
New Bulls coach Johan Ackermann has retained the assistant coaches who served under his predecessor, Jake White.
There was speculation whether the former Lions, Gloucester and Urayasu coach would shake things up at the Bulls after White’s divisive final weeks at the Pretoria union, the assistant coaches’ role in his removal, and the potential redundancy of forwards coach Andries Bekker.
Ackermann keeps Bekker under contract
The Bulls were the most successful union in South Africa under White, reaching three United Rugby Championship finals in the last four years. But after this season’s final defeat to Leinster, White told media he simply could not beat the Irish side with the players he had.
It emerged that players and coaches were unhappy with White’s leadership, which had a more top-down and autocratic style. Assistant coaches Chris Rossouw and Bekker in fact, led the way by taking players’ grievances above White’s head directly to the board, who mutually agreed to part ways with the coach last month.
It did not take the Bulls long to replace White. Ackermann wrapped up his time consulting the Junior Springboks with their World Rugby U20 Championship win and on the same day he arrived back in South Africa, paid Loftus a visit.
New Bulls boss brings a different approach
His own coaching career is also speckled with accolades (three times SA coach of the year, and one more in Japan) and defeats in tournament finals. But Ackermann brings a more unified and open approach to coaching. He told media in his first press conference that he wanted to hear the opinions of his players, but needed them to know that he was still in charge and they had to earn their places.
On Monday, the Bulls confirmed with The Citizen that Ackermann has opted to keep White’s previous coaches under contract. This is especially important for Bekker, after Ackermann was expected to take a more hands-on approach with the forwards, where he has been instrumental in his previous teams.
He also said he will watch Phiwe Nomlomo coach the Bulls’ Currie Cup side for a while before making suggestions about their tactics. Currently, the Bulls lead the Currie Cup log with 10 points from their first two games.
They smashed the Sharks 64–0 at Loftus on the weekend to follow up their 48-23 win against the Western Province in Cape Town the week before.
