Cape Town - SA Rugby on Monday confirmed that Rassie Erasmus has started in his new position as director of rugby at the union’s headquarters in Cape Town.

Erasmus was joined at SARU House by Jacques Nienaber, a former Springbok assistant coach and SA Rugby High Performance Manager, who will also resume duties in the rugby department. Both return to South Africa following a stint with Irish province Munster.

Apart from overseeing SA Rugby’s eight national teams, Erasmus will also manage the development of players, coaches and referees.

"It’s a pleasure to welcome back Rassie and Jacques into the SA Rugby family and we know they’ll add real value to our rugby department and the development of the game in South Africa," said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.

"They have more than 25 years’ worth of coaching experience between them and will be a great asset to our game here, on many different levels."

Roux said that the pair would spend the rest of the year in planning for 2018 and would not be directly involved with any national team until the new year.