In a shock development‚ Lions coach Swys de Bruin has quit his role as attack consultant of the Springboks.

De Bruin advised Springbok management on Tuesday that he wished to be released from his role.

De Bruin‚ who earlier this year took a medical time out from the Lions while they were on tour in Australasia‚ made the request for “personal and medical reasons”.

He sought the help of a mental health practitioner due to stress before returning to his job at the Lions.

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“Swys made a great contribution to the squad in his time with us and I’d like to thank him on behalf of his fellow management and the players he has worked with in the past 12 months‚” said Rassie Erasmus‚ SA Rugby’s director of rugby.

“He brought a fresh perspective to one facet of the game and he’ll be hard to replace.

"I’d also like to thank the Lions Company for releasing him to us and SA Rugby for supporting his appointment.”

Interestingly‚ De Bruin left the squad following the draw with New Zealand and has not been involved in the preparations for the match in Salta or this weekend’s Test against Argentina at Loftus Versfeld.

Erasmus said he would consider a number of options before naming a specialist replacement coach on a short-term basis.

This was not something we were expecting but our planning has been thorough and it’s something we can manage‚” said Erasmus.