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Sharks step closer to finalising 2020 coaching staff

Cape Town - The post-Robert du Preez era at the Sharks is taking shape already, with the Durban-based franchise a step closer to finalising their coaching staff for the 2020 Super Rugby season. 

Sport24 has learnt that Sean Everitt, who served as Currie Cup head coach this year, will be Du Preez's replacement as head coach while reports on Sunday that Brent Janse van Rensburg will join as forwards coach can now also be confirmed.

Janse van Rensburg stepped down as Griquas coach last week. 

It can also be confirmed that David Williams will stay on as attack coach for the 2020 season having joined ahead of the 2019 campaign. 

In an interview with Sport24 back in July, new Sharks CEO Eduard Coetzee hinted that Du Preez's replacement could be an internal appointment. 

"We are going through a process to see who there is and I think a lot of people feel the Sharks brand, and rightly so, should have a top coach," Coetzee said at the time. 

"I don't disagree with that at all, but what I'm trying to say is that maybe a top coach is here."

It will mark the beginning of a new era in Sharks rugby. 

While the handover between former CEO Gary Teichmann and Coetzee has been in the pipeline for some time, Du Preez's exit was not as smooth. 

By the end of last season, the 59-year-old had fallen out with Durban-based media, publicly referring to them as "cockroaches" while there were also reports of player division and unrest behind the scenes. 

It meant that his parting ways with the union became inevitable, and it will now be the responsibility of Everitt to facilitate the rebuilding phase. 

The Sharks were losing quarter-finalists in the 2019 edition of Super Rugby, going down 38-13 to the Brumbies in Canberra. 

Sport24 asked the Sharks to confirm the coaching appointments on Sunday, but they could not and said that a release would be sent out in due course. 

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