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Heyneke Meyer has joined Carinat Sports Marketing as managing director
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The 49-year-old coached the Springboks for four seasons between 2012 and 2015
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Meyer will draw upon his international sporting expertise to develop various sporting projects
Former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has joined Hong Kong-based Carinat Sports Marketing as managing director of the business.
In his new role, Meyer will be drawing upon his international sporting expertise to develop various sporting projects in South Africa.
After the appointment was made official, Meyer commented via a press statement on Sunday: “I am thrilled to be joining Carinat Sports Marketing, especially since this opportunity will allow me to live out my passion, which is sports,
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“I had some enticing offers from abroad, but I love my country and it is where I would like to be involved in the business of sport.”
The 49-year-old said he was eager to get involved in rugby again.
“I first met the team from Carinat at the World Club 10s in Mauritius in June last year and their unique approach immediately impressed me.
“At the World Club 10s I was involved with the African Pacific Dragons team – my first involvement with rugby since the end of 2015.
“And that involvement at the World Club 10s reminded me yet again that rugby is my passion.”
He continued: “I found it interesting that Carinat Sports Marketing had created and developed the tournament concept in its totality, as well as the African Pacific Dragons team.
“They are also known as the Asia Pacific Dragons, and had been the outfit behind the Singapore bid for the 18th Super Rugby team back in 2014.
“The team has played pretty constantly since they were founded in 2011, and their roll of honour is a who’s who of Pacific Islands players – a real ‘players team’.
“I enjoyed the atmosphere and spirit and afterwards I kept in touch with (Wallabies scrumhalf) Will Genia, who took his family with him to Mauritius and said that he his zest for playing again there.
“I also stayed in touch with Jon Phelps from Carinat, and we kept talking, sharing views and ideas. I was impressed in the values the company has about looking long term with everything they do, and the players coming first.
“We talked about South Africa, what they had in mind and what I was looking for. Despite receiving a number of offers from Europe, the time at home with my family had been enjoyable and long overdue.
“I had achieved everything I had always dreamt of doing as a coach, and found the discussions around this new challenge very interesting.”