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- Former Super Rugby coach Dave Wessels has been appointed general manager for high performance at SA Rugby.
- Western Province Rugby has wished Wessels well as he immediately steps down as their head of rugby.
- The 41-year-old will undertake all rugby activities - allowing Rassie Erasmus and Charles Wessels (no relation) to focus on the national teams.
- For more sports news, go to the News24 Sport front page.
SA Rugby confirmed on Saturday that former Super Rugby coach Dave Wessels has been appointed to a new General Manager for High Performance role at the organisation.
Wessels has subsequently stepped down from his previous role as head of rugby at Western Province Rugby and the Stormers.
The 41-year-old, who has coached Western Force and the Melbourne Rebels, will start his new job immediately.
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Wessels' appointment continues a string of changes of the rugby department at SA Rugby, which began with Rassie Erasmus returning as national head coach.
Erasmus will now be helped by Charles Wessels (no relation) to focus "entirely on Springbok affairs", with the latter's previous role as GM: Rugby discontinued.
"We are undertaking a review of all rugby activities and ensuring the structure is best purposed to meet the needs of our national teams," said the CEO of SA Rugby, Rian Oberholzer, in a statement.
"These changes begin the process of providing better support for all our national teams and further changes are being considered.
"The appointment of Dave Wessels achieves two objectives - it allows Rassie and Charles Wessels to focus solely on the national team while creating a resource that can provide greater direction and support to our other national teams.
"In particular, it will allow for greater emphasis on the strategic needs and future plans of our sevens, women's and junior national teams whose requirements will now receive singular attention."
Back in 2008, Wessels started his coaching career under the then-WP head coach Erasmus when he was appointed as defence consultant at the Stormers and Western Province.
Wessels then served as an assistant coach at the Brumbies in Australia before becoming the youngest-ever Super Rugby coach after being appointed at Western Force and, subsequently, the Melbourne Rebels.
He returned to South Africa after a decade in Australia and took up the role as head of rugby at Western Province and Stormers in 2022.
"Rassie gave me my first real job in rugby back in 2008 and I know what a good environment he runs. It's a privilege to be part of a world-leading organisation such as SA Rugby," said Wessels.
"The needs of high-performance environments are always changing, and my job will be to offer support and create systems that will ensure sustained success for South Africa's teams into the future.
"This is a big challenge, and I hope that the experiences I've had in various roles both here and overseas for the past decade and a half will be beneficial.
"I'm also very grateful to the Stormers. It's been wonderful to be a part of the team over the last few years and I wish the guys all the best."
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Meanwhile, Western Province Rugby has wished Wessels well in his new role at SA Rugby.
Wessels played a significant role in securing Western Province's investment of the Red Disa Consortium, the new equity partner that will assume a controlling shareholding of the organisation.
Stormers head coach John Dobson will step in to assume Wessels' responsibilities in the interim, while a new structure will be "finalised in the coming weeks".
Dobson thanked Wessels for his immense contribution to Western Province Rugby and said that the entire organisation would benefit from the work that he did in the years to come.
"I have worked closely with Dave over the last two years and now it is about taking his work forward, with a number of exciting developments coming soon," said Dobson.
"Everyone at Western Province Rugby will be better off for the work that Dave put into our junior structures and future planning over the last two years and he leaves with our best wishes for his new role."
