Old faces in new places
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Phillip Burger and one of "those" tries
The new Super Rugby (Super 15) tournament is just around the corner and as usual you can expect some new faces and in other cases, old faces running onto the field for their new teams.
This covers all the major the player movements and new signings that happened prior to the start of the tournament and hopefully it won’t come as too much of a shock when your favourite player runs out in the jersey of the team you despise so much.
With a new and much-needed cash flow injection – thanks to an investment from IT mogul Robert Gumede and international businessman and philanthropist Ivor Ichikowitz – the Lions went on a bit of a shopping spree and acquired some young and exciting players as well as experienced players.
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Lionel Mapoe – Moves from Sharks/Cheetahs(who knows?) after contractual spat between him, the Cheetahs and the Sharks didn’t get resolved
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Rory Kockott – Moves from the Sharks after he became a regular bench-warmer behind Charl McCleod
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Bandise Maku – With Gary Botha and Chilliboy Ralepelle enjoying first choice at the Bulls, Maku moves to Johannesburg to get more time on the field
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Patrick Cilliers – Makes the trip from Durban where the Sharks are blessed with a number of quality front row players
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Michael Rhodes – He was always going to struggle to make the team with guys like Deysel, Daniel, Alberts and Kankowski at the Sharks
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Andre Pretorius – Recently spotted at the Lions training camp and will most likely get paid per game that he plays as has been the case at the Sharks during the Currie Cup.
The Lions also have two other wild cards on the table:
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Butch James – Nothing is official yet but James confirmed that he will be leaving English club Bath at his earliest convenience and it is no secret that the Lions were throwing big stacks of cash his way. James is also trying to get back into the Bok squad before the World Cup and his best chance to get noted will be at a South African franchise.
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Tendai (Beast) Mtawarira – Not exactly clear why he wants to move and how he will get out of his Sharks contract but rumour has it that the Lions are offering big bucks if he makes the trip to the Highveld. Again, nothing official yet but Brendan Nel from Supersport has it on good authority that the Lions will fight for Beast’s services purely because of what the Sharks did to them last year with Willem Alberts and Louis Ludik. (REPORTED JUST THIS MORNING THAT HE WILL INDEED STAY AT THE SHARKS)
Not a lot has been going down at the current Super 14 Champions, where the Bulls decided to put their trust in the youngsters coming through the ranks. Only one big signing was made to fill the gap left by retired John Mametsa.
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Bjorn Basson – The Griquas flyer was high on everybody’s shopping list but whether he will get to pull the blue jersey over his head is the next big question. He was provisionally suspended along with Chilliboy Ralepelle after they both tested positive for illegal substances on the Boks’ recent End-of-year-tour
Youngsters to keep your eye on this season:
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Marnus Schoeman – Fire-eating flank of the U/21 Blue Bulls. He is a strong ball carrier, great defender and destructive when given just a split second to pounce on the loose ball.
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Cornell Hess – The Bulls just keep on turning out quality locks and Hess is no exception. The experience he stands to get from playing along a trio of Bok locks will be invaluable to his career
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Marnitz Boshoff – Attacking flyhalf with strong ball-carrying abilities and with an equally potent boot. Will learn so much from Morne Steyn. The other flyhalf in the squad is Francois Brummer but don’t be surprised if Boshoff earns the nod ahead of him.
The other franchise that acquired quite a few new faces was the Cheetahs. They had to fill some gaps after losing players to overseas clubs and other SA franchises.
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Philip Burger – With the long term injury of Jongi Nokwe and of course Lionel Mapoe lost to the Lions, the lost son returns after a very successful stint with French Top 14 club Perpignan where he lifted the prized Top 14 shield in 2009 .
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Wilhelm Steenkamp – With quality Bok locks like Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield and Flip van der Merwe, Steenkamp was always going to struggle to make the match 22. He moves to Bloemfontein to show that he is in fact the real deal.
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Andries Strauss – The Cheetahs lost one of their most valuable mid-fielders this season(covered under Sharks) but they acted quickly and signed Strauss, who now boasts a Currie Cup title and Bok blazer on his resume. He was the stand-out centre in the 2010 Currie Cup and was instrumental in the Sharks lifting the trophy.
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Morgan Newman – Again, with Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie and new superstar Juan de Jongh in Cape Town he was never going to be first choice and a move to Bloemfontein was the only logical choice to revive his career.
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Fabian Juries – After a short stint with the WP/Stormers, Juries signed with the Griquas – making him eligible for Cheetahs selection – where he will most likely see out the final few seasons of a very memorable career.
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Ryno Benjamin – After becoming a specialist Bok Sevens player, he now makes his return to the 15-man code of the game. We at Rugby15 are sure that Philip Burger and Benjamin will share a few chirps between them after a certain try in the Currie Cup years back when Benjamin handed off no more than three attempted tackles from Burger to score in the corner. Well done to Burger for chasing him down three times.
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Earl Rose – After losing the plot somewhat at the Lions, Rose signed with Griquas to try and get his career back on track. He has already been omitted from the extended Cheetahs squad but may very well find himself back in the picture if the usual injuries start bothering the Cheetahs.
The Sharks seem to be content with the players that won them the Currie Cup title in 2010 and did minimal shopping, deciding only to build depth in some positions.
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Conrad Hoffman – He will most likely warm the bench behind McCleod but he is a very talented player and will be missed down in Cape Town
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Meyer Bosman – A bit of a swap around with Andries Strauss moving to Bloemfontein but Bosman will add some serious bulk to the Sharks mid-field and he covers flyhalf as well. Probably the Cheetahs’ biggest loss of the season
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Jacques-Louis Potgieter – After reviving his career at the Cheetahs, he was on the shopping list of many teams. He moved back to the Bulls but it wasn’t long before the Sharks made him an offer he couldn’t resist
With no official squad released yet we are not sure exactly who the Stormers signed except for a certain Cheetah prop. But with quality players like Bryan Habana, Schalk Burger, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Gio Aplon and many more, who do you sign?
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CJ van der Linde – After two successful seasons at the Irish club Leinster, Van der Linde returned to the Cheetahs with the focus of cementing his name in the Bok World Cup squad. Shortly after he landed in Bloemfontein he signed with the Cape franchise.
There are still a few weeks left before the tournament kicks off and there might still be a few surprises in store, in which case we will keep you updated.
[james@rugby15.co.za]
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