Munster will reportedly replace Rassie Erasmus as Director of Rugby with another South African: Johann van Graan.
Van Graan is currently the Springboks' forwards coach. He joined the South African coaching team in 2012 when Heynke Meyer took over the job. After Allister Coetzee was appointed in 2016, Van Graan was retained as a coach.
Van Graan never represented South Africa as a player but he is a son of the Bulls CEO Barend van Graan and he has been nicknamed 'Aap' by his friends
It was at the Bulls franchise in Super Rugby where he got his opportunity to be a coach when former Springbok head coach Meyer appointed him as a video analyst during his second spell in charge.
Meyer claimed he took a risk in appointing him because nobody had ever heard of him but Meyer has since hailed him as "the best appointment yet," when asked by Supersport on his views about his prodigy climbing up the ranks from video analyst to assistant coach with the Bulls.
Van Graan has no experience as Director of Rugby or a head coach. In 2014 he gave an interview to the Sunday Times in South Africa about his core coaching values.
I believe in meticulous planning and that everything is in detail. Rugby players cannot always focus on emotion. The only way to be perfect in your execution is to be perfect in your detail.
Although he may seem like a coach that is engrossed by the process over emotion, Van Graan appears to be very much a people person also.
I wanted to coach because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives and I love the game. I have a passion for people and the game. You have a responsibility as a coach, not just to make better players but to create better people. Once you have a players heart they will (do) anything on the field for you.
