Former Springboks rugby coach Ian McIntosh dies at 84

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Ian McIntosh, who coached South Africa's rugby team through the country's transition from apartheid to multi-party democracy, died Wednesday, SA Rugby said. He was 84.

McIntosh was the coach of the Springboks from 1993-94 and also held the distinction of being the only man to coach South Africa's national 15-man and sevens teams. He was the sevens coach in 2003.

He died Wednesday in a hospital near the east coast city of Durban after battling cancer, SA Rugby said.

Durban was central to McIntosh's legacy after he took the city's Sharks team, then known as Natal, to its first Currie Cup title in 1990 and made them a force in South African rugby when they had previously been little more than an underdog.

He won three more titles with the Sharks in 1992, 1995 and 1996 and also led them to the final in the first season of the southern hemisphere's Super 12 competition.

McIntosh, who was nicknamed “Mac” and sometimes “Master,” served as a Springboks selector for 13 years after retiring as a coach and was given the Vernon Pugh Award for Distinguished Service by governing body World Rugby in 2013.

“Mac never stopped working and believed in giving back to the game that he loved so much," SA Rugby president Mark Alexander said. “As South African rugby, we owe him so much gratitude for what he’s done."

The Sharks honored McIntosh in 2021 when they named the main entrance to Kings Park Stadium the Ian McIntosh Gate.

___

More AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports