South Africa head coach Allister Coetzee has strongly refuted speculation that his assistant Johann van Graan is poised to join Munster, insisting nothing official has been confirmed.
Coetzee was quizzed following the Springboks’ 27-27 draw with Australia yesterday in Bloemfontein in the Rugby Championship, with Van Graan reportedly set to replace the departing Rassie Erasmus.
Earlier this week High Performance Director David Nucifora confirmed that a replacement is expected to be confirmed shortly, stating that the IRFU was down to "one person more seriously".
With Dave Wessels taking over at Melbourne Rebels, van Graan has been strongly linked to the post, though Coetzee reacted angrily to the speculation following South Africa’s second successive draw with the Wallabies.
"Has South Africa Rugby said something? There is nothing official."
"Have you seen his contract? Has he signed anything? How can it be official?" he questioned.
"Has South Africa Rugby said something? There is nothing official."
The head coach then insisted he didn’t want to talk anymore about van Graan’s future, before finally adding: "Johann van Graan has got no signed contract [with Munster]. He's a contracted assistant coach to South Africa Rugby and those are the facts."
Erasmus told RTÉ Sport that he is unaware of the identity of his successor.
"I know people speculated and said it was Dave Wessels, now they are talking about Johan van Graan," he told RTÉ Sport.
"I know there are more names I saw, so I’m not 100pc sure who the last person is, but they are all quality."
He also revealed that the length of transition between the incoming and departing coaches will depend on the appointment.
"If I don’t know him at all, maybe the period will be a little longer. Somebody I know and I have worked with, then I think it can be a shortened version.
"The deal was always until Munster is fine. We’ll work around that."
