AB Zondagh to join Scotland set-up as key Toulouse players lament departure of highly regarded skills coach

Alan Basson Zondagh worked previously in Super Rugby with the Sharks in South Africa before moving to France. Picture: Steve Haag/Gallo Images

The South African said his farewells to Stade Toulousain on Friday after their match against Toulon and is now expected to take up a new role at Murrayfield.

AB Zondagh, as he is more widely known, was skills coach in Toulouse and looks like a natural replacement for Mike Blair who left his post as Scotland assistant to take charge of Edinburgh following Richard Cockerill’s departure as head coach.

Zondagh, 35, was part of Ugo Mola’s coaching team at Stade Toulousain who were crowned champions of France last season after beating La Rochelle in the Top 14 final in Paris.

A well respected figure in the game, he previously worked with the Sharks in South Africa before moving to France in 2019.

His knowledge of South African rugby is likely to prove useful to Scotland who are scheduled to play the Springboks in November as part of the Autumn Nations Series and will face them again in the pool stages of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

His departure prompted messages of good luck on social media from the Toulouse players, with France scrum-half Antoine Dupont saying: “Thank you for everything.”

Thomas Ramos, the France full-back, said: “Thank you coach!!! Good luck my friend.” Zondagh replied: “I will miss you. Great athletes but above all great human beings!”

A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.