Former South African international Johan Erasmus has emerged as a contender to become the first Director of Rugby at Munster.

This morning's Irish Independent reports that Erasmus is leaving his current role as South African Rugby's general manager of high performance this summer and is considering offers from both Japan and Europe after missing out on replacing Heyneke Meyer as the next Springboks coach.

He is understood to have already spoken with Munster about the newly-created role, which has also been linked to Paul O'Connell, Todd Blackadder and Conor O'Shea.