[2016 Super Rugby] SA Transfers & General Discussion

[TRF_stormer2010]

Updating the OP and changing the thread to accommodate all SA teams:

Stormers
+ Vincent Koch
+ Jano Vermaak
+ JC Janse van Rensburg
- Frans Malherbe
- Steven Kitshoff
- Manuel Carizza
- Duane Vermeulen
- Demetri Catrakilis
- Nic Groom
- Pat Howard
- Rynhard Elstadt
+ Johan Goosen, unsubstantiated rumors as far as I know
+ Pieter-Steph du Toit, seems quite likely seeing as he has announced he won't be playing for the Sharks and wants to move to Cape Town
+ Cornal Hendricks

Sharks
+ Willie le Roux
+ Joe Pietersen?
+ Coenie Oosthuizen
- Bismarck du Plessis
- Jannie du Plessis
- Willem Alberts
- Jean Deysel

Lions
- Schalk van der Merwe
- Armand van der Merwe on loan- might be back for SR

Bulls
- Victor Matfield
- Jacques du Plessis
- Pierre Spies
- Wiaan Liebenberg
- William Small-Smith
- Flip van der Merwe

Cheetahs
+ William Small-Smith
- Willie le Roux
- Joe Pietersen
- Coenie Oosthuizen
- Johann Sadie
- Cornal Hendricks

Kings
.

In addition, a lot of SA players will be playing in the Japanese Top League but will/should be available for their teams for SR:
Heinrich Brussow
Francois Hougaard
Damian de Allende
Schalk Burger
Warwick Tecklenburg
Eben Etzebeth
Handre Pollard
Elton Jantjies
Francois Steyn
..

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Has De Jongh actually signed a contract for next season?

He is a player I'm hoping Leicester are looking at esp if HM snubs him again.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Has De Jongh actually signed a contract for next season?

He is a player I'm hoping Leicester are looking at esp if HM snubs him again.

Not as far as I know. I think the only thing that'd keep him here is the fact he would probably be captaining the side with Vermeulen and probably JdV gone. I am in the dark WRT De Villiers as well. De Jongh is a good player but him and De Allende are too similar to work well together and TBH I think De Allende is better even if he needs to do a lot of work on his defense still. I'd actually feel more confident in our center partnershi if it was De Allende at 12 with De Villiers at 13.

I wouldn't know by what time one would have certainty as to JdV and JdJ's futures.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Okay, so I've updated the thread name to include all SA teams since it seems more feasible to stimulate discussion. I'll add a table to the OP to update the info we have so far for all 6 teams when I get time.

If anyone has additional info please drop it in this thread and I'll get it sorted later. What I am aware of:

Stormers confirmed
+ Vincent Koch
+ Jano Vermaak
- Frans Malherbe
- Steven Kitshoff
- Manuel Carizza
- Duane Vermeulen
- Demetri Catrakilis
- Nic Groom
- Pat Howard
- Rynhard Elstadt

Rumors
+ Johan Goosen, unsubstantiated rumors as far as I know
+ Pieter-Steph du Toit, seems quite likely seeing as he has announced he won't be playing for the Sharks and wants to move to Cape Town

Sharks confirmed
+ Willie le Roux
+ Joe Pietersen?
+ Coenie Oosthuizen
- Bismarck du Plessis
- Jannie du Plessis

Sharks rumors
?

Lions confirmed
?

Lions rumors
?

Bulls confirmed
- Victor Matfield
- Jacques du Plessis
- was it H or W Liebenberg?
- Flip van der Merwe if I remember correctly?
- William Small-Smith
- JL Potgieter?
Bulls rumors
?

Cheetahs confirmed
- Willie le Roux
- Joe Pietersen
- Coenie Oosthuizen

Cheetahs rumors
?

Kings confirmed
Actually, do we even know what the Kings' core squad looks like?

Kings rumors
?


I'm sure I'm forgetting many. I'll see if I can't find time to go back through the rumor (and confirmation) mill.

 

[TRF_heineken]

For the Bulls it's Wiaan Liebenberg that they are losing, but they are keeping his bigger younger brother Hanro.

The Bulls camp has been very quiet up till now, with reports mostly on the new Currie Cup coach Nollis Marais doing the rounds.

William Small Smith has signed with the Cheetahs.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

For the Bulls it's Wiaan Liebenberg that they are losing, but they are keeping his bigger younger brother Hanro.

The Bulls camp has been very quiet up till now, with reports mostly on the new Currie Cup coach Nollis Marais doing the rounds.

William Small Smith has signed with the Cheetahs.

Cool, I couldn't remember which brother was which. Thanks for the help +1

Updated the OP with some additional info the most recent of which is JC Janse van Rensburg in to cover for the departing Kitshoff. A good signing IMO.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Hendricks heading back to Cape Town for a 2 year deal with the Stormers (supposedly)! Le Roux should've also come home!

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/CurrieCup/Cornal-Hendricks-linked-to-WP-move-20150715

So far then for the Stormers:

1 JC Janse van Rensburg / Kebble
2 Scarra Ntubeni / M Willemse / Mbonambi
3 Vincent Koch / ...
4 Eben Etzebeth / Kleyn
5 (Pieter-Steph du Toit) / Botha
6 Schalk Burger
7 Siya Kolisi
8 Nizaam Carr
9 Jano Vermaak
10 (Johan Goosen) / Coleman / Du Preez / Du Plessis
11 Cheslin Kolbe / Senatla
12 Damain de Allende
13 JdJ / JdV
14 (Cornal Hendricks)
15 Jaco Taute / Kolbe

Looking at the Kings, I hope they manage a few signings before SR season because if their 1st round Currie Cup squad is anything to go by they are a band of journeymen and not in the way the Lions were IMO- with the Lions you could see there were guys who had a ton of talent if not the name (yet). I guess some of the guys in Japan might join them, I am thinking of Wimpie van der Walt and Johann Sadie in Particular but still.

EP Kings:
15 Scott van Breda, 14 Siviwe Soyizwapi, 13 Ronnie Cooke, 12 Tim Whitehead (captain),11 Luther Obi, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Jacques Engelbrecht, 6 Thembelani Bholi, 5 Steven Sykes, 4 Stefan Willemse, 3 Basil Short, 2 Michael van Vuuren, 1 Schalk Ferreira
Substitutes: 16 Albe de Swardt, 17 Tom Botha, 18 Cameron Lindsay, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Enrico Acker, 21 Karlo Aspeling, 22 Tythan Adams, 23 Lizo Gqoboka, 24 Tazz Fuzani, 25 JP du Plessis, 26 Marlou van Niekerk

 

[Bull]

Nollies Marais has been appointed the Bulls coach. There are rumours about Francois Hougaard being offered a contract for next year but he is still undecided about his future. I personally hope he does come back to the Bulls, he does seem a much better player and happier since Nollis took over.

Sharks
Jacques Potgieter

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Can others help with a few I've missed which havn't popped up yet and I'll update the OP.

Almost more critical than transfers though are the rise of a few youngsters. The SA franchizes are going to continue slipping though if we can't keep our players in SA if only for the sake of continuity; it'd be better if we had the bread and milk players hanging around and the rookies getting their chances with rotation/injury rather than them having to carry our teams.

How do you rate our teams? Its difficult to use the Currie Cup as a yardstick but I have it as:

1 Stormers
2 Lions
3 Bulls
? Jaguares (Argentina) should probably be running with this pack?

daylight

4 Sharks
5 Cheetahs
? Sunwolves (Japan) hereabouts unless they get the full national involved? I don't know what Leitch, Horie, Tanaka etc, what their contracts with their NZ/Aus teams state or even if they are still contracted. Goromaru looks like being a popular target so he might even end up in Europe. That'd mean almost all their key players missing unless they can sort it out.

I'd say daylight but we are approaching the abyssal regions...

6 Kings

 

[TRF_heineken]

Can others help with a few I've missed which havn't popped up yet and I'll update the OP.

Almost more critical than transfers though are the rise of a few youngsters. The SA franchizes are going to continue slipping though if we can't keep our players in SA if only for the sake of continuity; it'd be better if we had the bread and milk players hanging around and the rookies getting their chances with rotation/injury rather than them having to carry our teams.

How do you rate our teams? Its difficult to use the Currie Cup as a yardstick but I have it as:

1 Stormers
2 Lions
3 Bulls
? Jaguares (Argentina) should probably be running with this pack?

daylight

4 Sharks
5 Cheetahs
? Sunwolves (Japan) hereabouts unless they get the full national involved? I don't know what Leitch, Horie, Tanaka etc, what their contracts with their NZ/Aus teams state or even if they are still contracted. Goromaru looks like being a popular target so he might even end up in Europe. That'd mean almost all their key players missing unless they can sort it out.

I'd say daylight but we are approaching the abyssal regions...

6 Kings

Well, I think we will have to wait and see the training groups for 2016 if we want to make conclusions. I think the transfer window is also still open at this stage, so there could still be some surprize inclusions and omissions to some teams.

With that said, I won't write off the Sharks just yet. They could just be one of the outside teams that could have a great tournament.

Also I'm very optimistic about the Bulls, but I think they are a very young team, and has a new coach, and that could just be their downfall.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Cheetahs squad:
Justin Basson, Rayno Benjamin, Clayton Blommetjies, Tienie Burger, Willie Britz, Johan Coetzee, Luan de Bruin, Lood de Jager, Maphutha Dolo, Jacques du Toit, Joseph Dweba, Sias Ebersohn, Joubert Engelbrecht, Reinhardt Erwee, Elandre Huggett, Reniel Hugo, Niell Jordaan, Armandt Koster, Tertius Kruger, Nico Lee, Hilton Lobberts, Niel Marias, Steven Meiring, Tian Meyer, Danie Mienie, Zee Mkhabela, Oupa Mohoje, Uzair Cassiem, Teunis Nieuwoudt, Gerhard Olivier, Sergeal Petersen, Boom Prinsloo, Niel Rautenbach, Raymond Rhule, Willem Serfontein, Paul Schoeman, William Small-Smith, JP Smith, BG Uys, Francois Uys, Michael van der Spuy, Maks van Dyk, Torsten van Jaarsveld, Ruan van Rensburg, Coenie van Wyk, Francois Venter, Henco Venter, Shaun Venter, Dennis Visser, Carl Wegner, Fred Zeilinga.

Not as good as in the past but not as bad as I'd have thought considering their losses. Maybe the clean sweep and getting all the ego's out will mean good things for the Cheetahs like it has for the Lions.

 

[unrated]

Sharks
- Francois Steyn
-Willem Alberts
-Bismarc du Plessis
-Jannie du Plessis
-SP Marais (he was good last year)
-Marco Wentzel and Waylon Murray ( good riddance)
Wish we never signed the doping cheat rallepele
If Ryan Kankowski makes the sevens squad he will probably also be out.
-Lionel Cronje luckily i couldn't give a **** about him.

I hate that there is so little media coverage about South African rugby transfers. One seriously has to dig hard to find info on transfers. Most casual fans would have thought that Francois steyn would still be playing in japan and joining the sharks a bit later in the SR season. But no not even our biggest sport media outlets Supersport, news 24 picks up that montepellier has signed him. No announcement from the player or our local clubs. If we are gonna lose our players i feel it is the clubs responsibility to at least announce that the players is leaving.

Either there is no demand for it or we lack enough rugby journalists in south africa or worse they are underqualified and are as in the dark as us.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Sharks
- Francois Steyn
-Willem Alberts
-Bismarc du Plessis
-Jannie du Plessis
-SP Marais (he was good last year)
-Marco Wentzel and Waylon Murray ( good riddance)
Wish we never signed the doping cheat rallepele
If Ryan Kankowski makes the sevens squad he will probably also be out.
-Lionel Cronje luckily i couldn't give a **** about him.

I hate that there is so little media coverage about South African rugby transfers. One seriously has to dig hard to find info on transfers. Most casual fans would have thought that Francois steyn would still be playing in japan and joining the sharks a bit later in the SR season. But no not even our biggest sport media outlets Supersport, news 24 picks up that montepellier has signed him. No announcement from the player or our local clubs. If we are gonna lose our players i feel it is the clubs responsibility to at least announce that the players is leaving.

Either there is no demand for it or we lack enough rugby journalists in south africa or worse they are underqualified and are as in the dark as us.

But there was an article about Frans Steyn going to Montpellier in August. It's not like it was being kept a secret. There were a bunch of articles, especially on Sport24 about the big Springbok exodus yet again to the NH. Frans' name was one that was repeatedly mentioned.

As for Chiliboy, I would take him back in a heartbeat for the Bulls. He is still a better hooker than Callie Visagie and Bandise Maku, and only Strauss will occupy that spot ahead of him. I think it's a very good move by the Sharks, It also means that he's back in contention for a Springbok call up, and Hooker seems to be an area where we need some challenges for the top spot.

I also don't get why he is now all of a sudden a cheat. He's most certainly not the only SA rugby player that has used steroids, but he is the only one that was caught. I think most top Rugby players at some stage has used sports enhancing drugs to assist some way or another. But that is another topic which has been discussed at length, and I don't want to derail this thread.

I was rather surprised at the Sharks squad, there are a lot of new guys I haven't heard of or seen much of. I'm glad they got Ruan Botha from the Stormers, he's a real up-and-coming lock and he wouldn't get as much game time at the Stormers with their new wonder pair of PSDT and Etzebeth.

I'm looking forward at the coming weeks to see what all the teams are doing, and what their squads will look like.

 

[BakkiesBokke]

I am not going to complain, but it would be crazy for Hougaard to play for the Kings! It doesn't really seem fair?

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/hougaard-to-play-for-kings-20151123

 

[TRF_heineken]

I am not going to complain, but it would be crazy for Hougaard to play for the Kings! It doesn't really seem fair?

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/hougaard-to-play-for-kings-20151123

Hougaard is now a SARU contracted player, He doesn't have a contract with the Bulls anymore, as he wants to go to the Olympics. I think this is a step in the right direction and I wish all the SA players would do this, that way, we'll keep our players in SA, and SARU will have a say where they play (With regards to overseas or in SA). It's then up to the unions/franchises to fork out the money if they want that player...

The Bulls made the choice of not paying SARU R100 000.00 per month for Hougie, so he can play for someone else. I think it's more than fair/reasonable.

 

[BakkiesBokke]

Hougaard is now a SARU contracted player, He doesn't have a contract with the Bulls anymore, as he wants to go to the Olympics. I think this is a step in the right direction and I wish all the SA players would do this, that way, we'll keep our players in SA, and SARU will have a say where they play (With regards to overseas or in SA). It's then up to the unions/franchises to fork out the money if they want that player...

The Bulls made the choice of not paying SARU R100 000.00 per month for Hougie, so he can play for someone else. I think it's more than fair/reasonable.

I take your point, but presumably the Kings won't have to fork out what the Bulls would have had to?

 

[TRF_heineken]

I take your point, but presumably the Kings won't have to fork out what the Bulls would have had to?

True, but the Kings won't have the luxury of having exclusive rights to Hougaard, and he will firstly be available to the Blitzbokke, and if he doesn't get called up, then only will the Kings be allowed to play him and pay him.

I think it's a more flexible option, and for Hougaard who is a quality player this will suit him well, and as long as he doesn't get injured will be able to play 7's and Super Rugby, depending on where he is needed.

 

[BakkiesBokke]

True, but the Kings won't have the luxury of having exclusive rights to Hougaard, and he will firstly be available to the Blitzbokke, and if he doesn't get called up, then only will the Kings be allowed to play him and pay him.

I think it's a more flexible option, and for Hougaard who is a quality player this will suit him well, and as long as he doesn't get injured will be able to play 7's and Super Rugby, depending on where he is needed.

Well we will see what happens. He would be incredibly useful for us at 9 of course.

In other news:

Bulls name Super Rugby squad
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/bulls-name-super-rugby-squad-20151123

Bulls squad:

Forwards

Props: Trevor Nyakane, Pierre Schoeman, Lizo Gqoboka, Dean Greyling, Nqoba Mxoli, Morne Mellett, Marcel van der Merwe, Werner Kruger, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Entienne Swanepoel

Hookers: Adriaan Strauss, Bandise Maku, Corniel Els, Jaco Visagie, Callie Visagie

Locks: RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Jannes Kirsten, Marvin Orie, Nicholaas Janse van Rensburg, Le Roux Roets, Irne Herbst, Grant Hattingh

Loose forwards: Lappies Labuschagne, Roelof Smit, Ruan Steenkamp, Deon Stegmann, Freddy Ngoza, Nick de Jager, Arno Botha, Clyde Davids, Hanro Liebenberg

Backs

Scrumhalves: Rudy Paige, Ivan van Zyl, Piet van Zyl

Flyhalves: Tian Schoeman, Francois Brummer, Joshua Stander, Handre Pollard

Midfielders: Burger Odendaal, Jan Serfontein, Daniel Kriel, JT Jackson, Dries Swanepoel, JJ Engelbrecht, Jesse Kriel

Wings: Jamba Ulengo, Jade Stigling, Kafense Mahlo, Travis Ismaiel, Luther Obi, Bjorn Basson

Fullbacks: Duncan Matthews, Divan Rossouw, Warrick Gelant

 

[TRF_heineken]

Well we will see what happens. He would be incredibly useful for us at 9 of course.

In other news:

Bulls name Super Rugby squad
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/bulls-name-super-rugby-squad-20151123

Bulls squad:

Forwards

Props: Trevor Nyakane, Pierre Schoeman, Lizo Gqoboka, Dean Greyling, Nqoba Mxoli, Morne Mellett, Marcel van der Merwe, Werner Kruger, Dayan van der Westhuizen, Entienne Swanepoel

Hookers: Adriaan Strauss, Bandise Maku, Corniel Els, Jaco Visagie, Callie Visagie

Locks: RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Jannes Kirsten, Marvin Orie, Nicholaas Janse van Rensburg, Le Roux Roets, Irne Herbst, Grant Hattingh

Loose forwards: Lappies Labuschagne, Roelof Smit, Ruan Steenkamp, Deon Stegmann, Freddy Ngoza, Nick de Jager, Arno Botha, Clyde Davids, Hanro Liebenberg

Backs

Scrumhalves: Rudy Paige, Ivan van Zyl, Piet van Zyl

Flyhalves: Tian Schoeman, Francois Brummer, Joshua Stander, Handre Pollard

Midfielders: Burger Odendaal, Jan Serfontein, Daniel Kriel, JT Jackson, Dries Swanepoel, JJ Engelbrecht, Jesse Kriel

Wings: Jamba Ulengo, Jade Stigling, Kafense Mahlo, Travis Ismaiel, Luther Obi, Bjorn Basson

Fullbacks: Duncan Matthews, Divan Rossouw, Warrick Gelant

So 15 of the Bulls Squad is non-white players. Not bad in terms of transformation. And apart from fly half and centre, we have players in of colour in all positions. Even though I think some of them will see very little game time.

For once I like our backline more than our forwards, but with that said it's good to see so many young guys coming through. The lock position especially, there are some fierce talent there and the guys have some tough competition.

 

[BakkiesBokke]

Lions Squad (notice how Sport24 could not be bothered to separate the players out by position as they did for the Bulls!!)

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/lions-name-super-rugby-squad-20151124