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Div hunts Jake's fitness guru

Jóhann Thormählen

Bloemfontein - Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has apparently made the next move to put together a management team for this year's World Cup.

De Villiers is set to rope in another member of his predecessor Jake White's management team as consultant for the tournament in New Zealand.

Sport24 understands that Derik Coetzee already received a call from De Villiers last week and the Bok coach will meet with the conditioning expert about his availability here on Tuesday.

Coetzee was White's fitness guru when South Africa won the World Cup in 2007 and is still highly-rated.

De Villiers is also keen to employ former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones as consultant, while Western Province director of coaching Rassie Erasmus is also expected to come on board.

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) recently made the surprise move to axe Os du Randt as scrum coach.

Coetzee's involvement will not necessarily mean that more heads will roll, but it will be interesting to see how De Villiers uses him and current Bok conditioning coach Neels Liebel.

Liebel was in the firing line with assistant coaches Dick Muir and Gary Gold last year when the Boks performed poorly.

De Villiers will announce a squad of between 45 and 50 players in Wellington on Wednesday to take part in the first national planning session on 1 and 2 May in Cape Town.

A second planning session will be held in Durban on 11 and 12 June and a third in Johannesburg on 19 and 20 June.

The Bok coach will announce his World Cup captain on 2 May.

The final squad of 30 players for the tournament, which starts on 9 September, will be announced on 23 August.

Coetzee's involvement will be welcomed in rugby circles and also inside the Bok camp.

He has repeatedly distinguished himself from other experts as a conditioning coach. Apart from the fact that he helped prepare the 2007 Boks, he was previously with the South Africa under-21 side when they were coached by White. He also worked under Peet Kleynhans at the Cheetahs.

Coetzee has been at the University of the Free State for the last few years and also assisted the Shimlas as fitness expert for their 2011 Varsity Cup campaign.
 
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