Cape Town - Rassie Erasmus says a report linking him with a move back to South Africa is at this stage “just speculation”.
This comes after Sunday newspaper, Rapport, stated that negotiations between SA Rugby and Munster to bring Erasmus back to South Africa were at an advanced stage.
Three impeccable sources told the Afrikaans newspaper that Erasmus’s return was “a mere formality”.
However, when probed on the matter at a press conference on Monday, Erasmus commented, as quoted by Irish publications News Talk and Independent.ie: "As I've said to a few of the guys, I've worked in South Africa for 16 years. I've got a lot of friends there and I speak to them weekly on a formal and informal basis. Some have been requests, some have been pure chats. It's really speculation at this stage. I've got an IRFU contract which is three years. As I say, it's just speculation."
At the moment, the former Springbok loose forward's focus is solely on Munster as they prepare for Saturday’s European Champions Cup quarter-final against Toulouse.
Erasmus joined Munster as their director of rugby in April last year after reportedly falling out with then-SA Rugby president Oregan Hoskins, and shortly after the appointment of Allister Coetzee as Springbok coach.
He was SA Rugby's high performance manager.
Under Erasmus’s guidance, Munster have flourished this season, at one stage winning 14 out of 15 games.
They are currently two points behind PRO12 leaders Leinster.