Saturday 1 July 2017 06:10, UK
Munster Rugby have confirmed director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and defence coach Jacques Nienaber will leave the province at the end of December.
The South African duo - who joined Munster at the start of July 2016 alongside Jerry Flannery, Felix Jones and the late Anthony Foley - guided the squad to a Pro 12 final and Champions Cup semi-final.
Erasmus is returning to South Africa as Director of Rugby to oversee the country's eight national teams and participation and management of 20 competitions as well as the development of players, coaches and referees.
Nienaber heads home to become the Springboks' high performance coach.
Working closely with the IRFU, Munster will now work to identify replacements, with Flannery and Jones already confirmed as forwards coach and back line and attack coach respectively.
Commenting on the departures, Munster chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald said: "With the squad and management returning for preseason this week we can today confirm that Rassie and Jacques will return to South Africa.
"While we understand Erasmus' reason to return to his home country for an opportunity as the national director of rugby we are disappointed to see him and Jacques both leave.
"Working closely with both I witnessed first-hand the work that they do, and we will always be grateful to Rassie for leading the squad through our most difficult time with the untimely passing of Axel (Anthony Foley).
"I believe we were very lucky in securing Rassie and Jacques in the first place, and we are thankful for the services of such experienced and knowledgeable coaching talent.
"Rassie succeeded in getting us back on track with much of the same personnel and when you see how far we have come and what we have gone through as a squad and organisation I am confident we will successfully manage the next stage.
"As a group we will be all the better for their input with Jerry and Felix now ready to step up to the next level."
