The rumours began to do the rounds towards the end of last week, but now a top-level source within the South African Rugby Union has let it slip that Heyneke Meyer will be announced as the new Springbok coach on Friday.

Meyer is expected to sign a two-year contract later this week after he had a meeting with Saru chief executive, Jurie Roux, in Pretoria on Saturday to finalise the terms of his contract as Bok coach.

Gert Smal, who was anticipated to take the position, said no to the Springbok coaching job at the weekend because of family commitments.

Smal was Saru’s “first choice”, and his decision to turn down the job has left the national body “very disappointed”, the source said.

Victor Matfield has described the 44-year-old Meyer as the best rugby coach he had played under, and it was widely thought Meyer would have taken over from Jake White after the 2007 Rugby World Cup, but instead the job landed in the hands of Peter de Villiers.

Meyer’s reign as Bulls coach saw them win four Currie Cup titles, between 2002 and 2006, as well as the Super Rugby competition in 2007.

After leaving the Bulls job after failing to win the Bok appointment, he was appointed head coach at Leicester in 2008.

Meyer then returned to South Africa in 2009 for personal reasons, rejoining the Blue Bulls in an executive coaching position.

Meyer’s management team will hopefully be finalised this week too, with Saru hoping to include Rassie Erasmus as a technical adviser.

We play our first test against England on June 9 in Durban.

[Source: CapeTimes]