JP Ferreira (born in 1983) is a South African rugby union coach, currently the defence coach for

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Playing career

Ferreira played rugby for the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

alongside future

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

coaching colleague

Johann van Graan Johann Christoffel van Graan (born 18 March 1980) is a South African rugby union coach, currently the head coach for Bath. Coaching career Van Graan did not have any top level playing career. With family background in rugby, he showed very s ...

, mostly as a fullback or

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. He had also accepted a trial with Welsh side

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

after leaving school, spending seven months with the club before returning to South Africa. Ferreira was then invited to join the

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls) is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfe ...

, featuring for their under-19s and under-20s, as well as training with the Springboks 7s team. He moved to the

Leopards The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

after being overlooked for promotion to the , before joining the

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

, playing his final game for them in 2007.

Coaching career

2007–2017 : Falcons and Lions

After suffering a knee injury playing for the Falcons in 2005, Ferreira offered to carry out analysis for the team after their previous analyst had left. When he retired from playing in 2007, Ferreira was offered an analyst position with the , where his role gradually changed to include coaching. When

Johan Ackermann Johannes Nicolaas 'Johan' Ackermann (born 3 June 1970) is a South African professional rugby union coach and former player. He played as a Lock (rugby union), lock during his playing career between 1995 and 2007. He is currently the head coach at ...

took over as head coach of the Lions in 2012, he made Ferreira the sides permanent defence coach as well as their head analyst and, under their guidance, the Lions reached consecutive

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

finals in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. Despite losing both finals, the Lions had the best defensive records during both seasons.

2017–2022 : Munster

Ferreira left the Lions in December 2017 to join Irish province

, who compete in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and Champions Cup, and where Ferreira's former UP teammate

is head coach, as their new defence coach, replacing

Jacques Nienaber Jacques Nienaber (born 16 October 1972) is a South African rugby union coach who is currently the head coach of the South Africa national team, the Springboks. Early life Nienaber was born in Kimberley, but grew up in Bloemfontein, where he a ...

. He joined on a contract until June 2020, which was extended in October 2019 until June 2022. During Ferreira's first full season with Munster - 2018–19 - the province boasted the best defence during the regular

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the ''Pr ...

season and the

2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage The 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage is the first stage of the 24th season of European club rugby union, and the fifth under the European Rugby Champions Cup format. The competition involves twenty teams, across five pools of f ...

. Ferreira left Munster upon the conclusion of the 2021–22 season.

2022– : Bath

Ferreira joined English

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

club

as their new defence coach from the 2022–23 season. In making the move to England, Ferreira joined former Munster head coach

, who also left the province at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Personal life

Ferreira's mother is former tennis player

Brigitte Cuypers Brigitte Cuypers (born 3 December 1955) is a retired tennis player from South Africa. Cuypers reached the final of the South African Open (tennis), South African Championships singles event on five consecutive occasions from 1975 to 1979 and w ...

, who won the South African Open three times during her career. He is the older brother of Morné Ferreira, who is a rugby referee.

References

External links

Munster Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreira, JP Living people 1980 births University of Pretoria alumni Bridgend RFC players Blue Bulls players Leopards (rugby union) players Falcons (rugby union) players South African rugby union coaches White South African people Munster Rugby non-playing staff