Veteran former Springbok assistant coach Alan Solomons will be retiring at the end of the season after a 25-year career in coaching.

The 71-year-old Solomons has been serving as director of rugby at Worcester Warriors in England since 2017, but the club on Wednesday announced that he will retire from coaching at the end of June.

His place as director of rugby will be taken by former Sale Sharks boss Steve Diamond, who joins Worcester on a two-year deal.

Solomons started coaching professionally in 1997, when he left a career in law to take up a position as an assistant coach with Western Province and the Springboks.

During his time under Nick Mallett, the Springboks won the 1998 Tri-Nations and went on a 17-game unbeaten streak.

Solomons was appointed as head coach at Western Province and the Stormers in 1998, guiding the teams to a Currie Cup final and Super Rugby semi-final.

Abroad, Solomons coached Ulster, the Barbarians and Northampton Saints. He was appointed as director of rugby of the Eastern Province Kings in 2010 and served until the end of their debut Super Rugby season in 2013.

“Alan has built an excellent platform for Steve to take things to the next level and achieve the full potential this club has to offer,” said Warriors co-owners Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham in a statement.

“Alan arrived in a consultancy role four years ago and his recruitment philosophy to develop and invest in a core of home-grown Worcester players and supplement them with X-factor talent has led to the development and retention of an exciting group of young players with more now coming through behind them in the academy.”

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