Stormers director of rugby Gert Smal says the head coach who'll replace Allister Coetzee will inherit the current coaching staff.
Coetzee's departure for Japan was confirmed at the High Performance Centre in Bellville on Tuesday. Western Province also took the opportunity to announce a new coaching team for the Currie Cup, which will be led by former U21 coach John Dobson.
The search will now begin for Coetzee's successor, and while Smal intends to look within the current structures first, he made no secret of the fact that the Stormers will cast their net far and wide in their bid to find the right candidate for the role.
'We will now start going through the process of finding a new coach. I think that we'll look internally first, but we'll also headhunt and open ourselves up to applicants,' said Smal.
'We'll be looking for somebody who can work within the current structures. The new coach will realise when he starts working with the coaching staff what their qualities are, and how good they are.'
Forwards coach Matt Proudfoot and backline coach Robbie Fleck are contracted to the union until 2017, and will work with the new Vodacom Super Rugby coach following his arrival. However, they will fulfill different roles during the Currie Cup campaign, with Proudfoot overseeing the self-explained 'Tight Five Factory' and Fleck taking over Dobson's role as Western Province U21 coach.
Smal stressed that the roles 'are not a demotion' and that there's no unhappiness among the coaches. It had earlier been reported that Fleck and Proudfoot had been put out by the appointment of Paul Treu.
Treu will take up the role of defensive coach vacated by Jacques Nienaber once he has become familiar with the coaching set-up at the union.
'Paul has a massive amount of value to add to Western Province and South African rugby. At the moment we're training him up as defence coach, which I think he can do very well in the future.
'He has some international experience with the sevens, and he has the skills to be very good in the role. He has to settle himself in the 15-man game, but knowing Paul and the person he is, I think it will complement him starting with defence and then expanding from there.'
Photo: Luke Walker/Gallo Images
