Ex-Bok flyhalf Koen named interim head coach of Springbok Women

Former Springbok flyhalf Louis Koen has been appointed as interim head coach of the Springbok Women's team for their tour to Spain later this month.

Koen, currently SA Rugby's High-Performance Manager, succeeds Stanley Raubenheimer, who's contract was not extended as the end of last year.

Junior Springbok Women's coach Laurian Johannes-Haupt has been appointed as Koen's assistant coach for the trip.

Koen has coached the country's premier women's team before on an interim basis when he took a national Select XVs side to the UK in 2017 as SA Rugby restarted their Springbok Women's programme. He has also recently been working with the squad, which was announced last week.

Johannes-Haupt, a former Springbok Women's player who featured at the 2010 Rugby World Cup, will coach the team's forwards. She was one of the beneficiaries of World Rugby’s Coaching Internship Programme at the Rugby World Cup in 2022 and part of the Springbok Women management who travelled to New Zealand.

Coaching team confirmed for #BokWomen tour to Spain - more here: https://t.co/SPjZqOAwcO ????#RiseUp #TogetherMovingForward @FNBSA pic.twitter.com/SDbDj05Vew

The Springbok Women's team will depart for Europe on 15 March for two Tests in Madrid - against Canada (25 March) and Spain (1 April).

It will be the SA women's first taste of Test action since the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand last September.

"We are very committed to seeing a steady improvement in our women's performances and getting top-class coaches on board is imperative in achieving that objective, but as we’re still in the process of making a permanent appointment, we’ve decided to hand the coaching reins for this tour to two very capable people who are already in our structures," Rassie Erasmus, SA