Cape Town - Gloucester coach Johan Ackermann says he has not been in contact with SA Rugby regarding the Springbok head coaching position.

Ackermann left the Lions after last year’s Super Rugby campaign to join Gloucester in England.

At the time he said he wanted “to grow as a coach”.

"The question for me is, where do I see my next challenge? Do I want to coach another three or four Super Rugby seasons and believe that that will be the best for me as a coach? Or is it time to go and test myself in Europe or at a Premiership level and grow as a coach there?” he said.

After it was announced last week that Springbok coach Allister Coetzee was relieved of his duties, journalists in England were quick to ask Ackermann whether he’d be interested in coaching the Springboks.

But a report on the GloucestershireLIVE website quotes Ackermann as responding: “My focus is at Gloucester, this is where I am now and at the moment it stays like that and therefore I can just control what I can and that is that I know I’m at Gloucester now.”

Ackermann also confirmed that there was no call from SA Rugby.

“The reality is my phone hasn’t been phoned so I can’t give you that answer and it hasn’t been phoned when I’m in South Africa and it hasn’t been phoned while I was in the UK so as long as it stays like that I’ll do my job to the best of my ability.”

Coetzee was sacked after winning just 11 of 25 Tests (44%) in charge of the Springboks.

With the Springbok coaching job unoccupied, it appears as though SA Rugby’s director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, will take charge of the national team.