The Bulls have drawn up a shortlist to replace director of rugby Jake White at Loftus Versfeld ahead of the 2025/26 season.
On Friday, the Pretoria-based franchise announced that they had mutually parted ways with the former Springboks honcho following a reported mutiny at Loftus between WhiIte, his assistants and senior players.
Bulls in talks with Jacques Nienaber
The hunt now begins to find his successor, with club CEO Edgar Rathbone eager to finalise the decision by the end of this month.
According to a report in Rapport, the Bulls have reached out to Rugby World Cup-winning former Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber to gauge his interest.
Nienaber is currently contracted to Irish province Leinster as their senior coach, has led their defence since leaving South Africa after the World Cup in France and helped their side end a four-year wait for silverware, beating the Bulls in the 2025 URC Final.
His contract concludes at the end of next season, meaning that the Bulls would likely need to buy him out of the remainder of his deal with the IRFU and Leinster to secure his return to South Africa, unless he has a clause in his current agreement. There is also a possibility that he could reunite with Rassie Erasmus in the build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Rapport’s sources state that Nienaber features on the shortlist, which includes Glasgow Warriors boss Franco Smith, a former Bulls player, Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan and ex-Lions coach Johan Ackermann.
There are stumbling blocks with all of the top targets, though. Ackermann has reportedly received a contract extension offer from SA Rugby to remain with the Junior Springboks, which expires at the end of the month at the U20 World Championship
As for Van Graan, he recently extended his contract with Bath through to 2030, which could rule him out of the position while Smith is garnering worldwide interest following his success at Glasgow.
The former fly-half has been linked to the Wales job, while the Scottish Rugby Union is keen on extending his contract beyond its expiration in 2026 and he is understood to be in the running to potentially replace Gregor Townsend as Scotland head coach.
Assistants’ futures
Additionally, the report states that White received a million-rand handshake to part ways with the Bulls, with the decision finalised after he returned from holiday.
“I will definitely get other input,” Rathbone told Rapport on the process of finding White’s successor.
“Especially from the board members and shareholders. It’s hard to say how long the process will take, but hopefully we can wrap it up by the end of the month.”
While White vacated his role with immediate effect on Friday, his assistant coaches remain in their positions for the time being, with their futures to be decided once the new director of rugby is confirmed.
There is a belief that the Bulls’ top job is the highest-paid franchise coach position in South Africa and rivals even the salaries paid to European club bosses.
