It’s a momentous day – we have photographic evidence that scrumhalf Michael Claassens has arrived in Durban at last!
The former Bok halfback, who has established himself as a key player at RC Toulon over the last few seasons, after six seasons at Bath in the UK, was announced as a Sharks signing way back in Feburary. Details surrounding his arrival were always somewhat sketchy, with the phrase “when his French commitments are over” being bandied about.
Needless to say, an entire super Rugby campaign came and went with nary a sign of the 32-year-old Kroonstad native in a black and white jersey. As you can see from this gallery, however, he is now very much in the mix and training hard with the Sharks Currie Cup squad.
With Cobus Reinach (who is still in the latter stages of rehab following a hand fracture) expected to be on Bok duty and Cameron Wright off to France, Claassens will join Conrad Hoffmann, Stefan Ungerer and Hanco Venter as the Sharks options at scrumhalf for the Currie Cup season.
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Brilliant news!
Great that he has finally arrived, looks a lot more in shape then the likes of Stevens which is good.
I don’t know why but I thought he was 34 going on 35.
Still, he has very good pedigree. Let’s hope this works out well for him and the Sharks.
Welcome to Durban Mr. Claassens!
As long as he plays like a 27 year old.
Welkom Michael 😉
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 6) : Agreed
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 6) : …and as long as he won’t be played ahead of the 21 year old.
Hehehe, can just imagine Rob in his bird watching ensemble roaming the ORT crowds with his binocs for weeks in the hope of dotting down this rare sighting. 😀
Is Hanco Venter not prob on his way to the Leopards? With Reinach being out injured will he still be part of the Bok 3 scrumhalfs? DuPreez, Pienaar, Faf De Klerk is where HM will prob look at the moment
@SheldonK (Comment 10) : not sure if Venter is coming back. Haven’t heard that he’s not, though.
@robdylan (Comment 11) : yeh im just assuming, as having seen him feature for the Leopards. and he would be well back in the line here. And i dont think he is still u21 if im correct? So only gametime option would be CC
I haven’t seen a reunion of people this old since The Expendables 2.
@The Great Couch Shark (Comment 13) : Comment of the week that wahahahaha
Not too excited about this, would of preferred more of an effort to keep and work with the younger talent that was coming through at SH.
Imagine that if Classens and Hoffman are preferred, then Ungerer and Venter may look elsewhere for playing opportunities.
@stevovo (Comment 15) : based on Ungerer’s performance, there is a lot of potential there.
personally I don’t think Hoffman will hang around too long, maybe Europe somewhere? neither stint at Sharks have worked out for him
@Kabouter (Comment 16) : Potential in Ungerer yes but he also throws a lot of wayward passes…at least 4 or 5 a half which is a big concern.
@Kabouter (Comment 16) : Neither stint has worked out for *him*!? Neither stint has worked out for the Sharks is more like it!
@stevovo (Comment 15) : I think (hope!) the coaches will stick with the Ungerer/Cronje combo. Its been working well in the SR. But Ungerer is still young, so might learn a thing or 2 from Michael which can only be good.
@SheldonK (Comment 17) : I would like to see Ungerer play with Lambie,so many times a scrum half wayward pass is because the flyhalf is not where he was supposed to be.
Speaking of Pat what is the news on his injury.
@The hound (Comment 20) : yeh look fair point on positioning..but with passes bouncing and at your ankles i dont know if thats the 10s fault to be honest. I think Lambie’s injury was a lot worse than was made out to be. There were rumours that is was close to career ending…so hence the very long rehab
@The hound (Comment 20) : This! Most annoying thing is a 10 not been where is supposed to be and/or not communicating where the hell he is.
Welcome Michael. May you have a splendid time with the Sharks!!
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 9) :
Classic!
@The Great Couch Shark (Comment 13) : The Expendables, though, were both cool and effective…
@stevovo (Comment 15) : Ungerer will definitely feature! And Claassens will keep Hoffman off the bench. And that makes me smile…
Welcome to the Sharks hope it’s a good one for you and the Sharks!!!!!!!
Whats his pay package? Anyone know?
@pastorshark (Comment 26) : that will be a good sign for the CC
any news on when the Junior Boks are back to training and if there are some warmup games before CC?
@Kabouter (Comment 29) : Re: last question…I don’t know. The junior Boks should definitely be available from now, but I don’t know about warmup games…
@SheldonK (Comment 17) : Ungerer has brought a big improvement since his selection though…
@pastorshark (Comment 30) : even a game or four chukkas against a combined club team will help get the Sharks away from the now usual first round loss
@pastorshark (Comment 23) : hopefully winning matches and not just the surroundings…..
@Kabouter (Comment 32) : But we only ever win the Currie Cup if we lose the first game against Griekwas!!! We have to lose that game…
@pastorshark (Comment 31) : Dont get me wrong, im not saying he is bad…just that he needs to concentrate fully to eliminate those 4/5 bad passes
@pastorshark (Comment 34) : who do we have first up or will that only be announced after the qualifying is finished?
he really looked impressive in every game i sae him playin france
feel sorry for venter, he was in the same baby bok team as ungerer and yet cause ungerer got a few games, no one rates venter. I feel they are both good young scrummies. If venter goes out on loan and has a good season for the leapords then its a positive for us. Hoffmann needs to take a job in wales/ireland
i forsee the depth chart for SR 2016 to be
cubus R
M claassens
ungerer
venter
in this yrs cc different combos will be tested in terms of ability, opposition, fitness, rotation etc, to see everyone perform
I love watching the cc, and will continue to watch it even without the boks all tournament, but I know that its really a SR trial
@SheldonK (Comment 35) : Agreed…we are on the same page…
@Kabouter (Comment 36) : Pumas away *gulp*
@Kabouter (Comment 36) : We have the Pumas first up at the Mbombela Stadium…then the Kings in Durban…
We should at least start our juniors on some friendly or pre cc games. It should become a regular institution call it the sharks challenge and start at the same time as super rugby semi finals a sort of Trination with sharks pumas and griekwas??
@robdylan (Comment 39) : We have to stop doing this…
@coolfusion (Comment 41) : Yup…get our loss to Griquas in early…Currie Cup in the bag, thank you very much…
@pastorshark (Comment 43) : Hmm you sound as superstitious as a us baseball player. You sure about the griekwas theory?
@coolfusion (Comment 44) : Lol…it’s never failed us yet!!
So Mitchell publicly declined the coaching position on radio late yesterday.
@coolfusion (Comment 46) : This is turning out to be a disaster. Maybe he wants the Bok coaching job. Letting Jake go was a huge mistake. Difficult to keep and attract quality players if you don’t have quality coaches. If Jake was still in charge we would never have had this PSDT and Marcel mess. Gary and John are proving to be no match for Gert Smal in all aspects. Let us not kid ourselves, PSDT is going to be a rugby great. One of the best and hardest tacklers in SA with a great rugby brain. We need to do whatever it takes to keep him including offering him the captaincy.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 47) : Gert Smal did not manage to get Mitchell to sign on as coach, he also couldnt keep Kitshoff, Vermeulen, Rhodes, Catrakilis or get the signature of Joe Pietersen. Despite this, I think I agree with you though other than for the White bit.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 47) : And while we are at it, why not change from the sharks to the pieter-stephs 😉 Letting Jake go,was for the benefit of the team, as we have heard from several sources that he is not a team player. That does leave us with the problem of getting a new coach, but we are going to have to rebuild. If PSdT wants to go, then he has to go. I am sure we will offer him more than what is fair, but no one player is bigger than the team
@coolfusion (Comment 46) : that’s the second time he’s done that. I wish people would stop linking him to every available coaching job. It gets old.
@HeinF (Comment 49) : I agree with you.
For me, this is simple.
If you do not want to play for the Sharks, then please leave. I don’t care how good you are, because passion for the jersey and genuine pride in the team is always going to mean more.
What is Mitchell’s reason for turning down the Sharks?
Is it that he doesn’t want the Gold,Venter interference.I have a huge problem with these two massive egos and massive salaries taking up the space,but not the responsibility.
Surely between these two you should be able to cover the D.O.R and the Head Coach positions.
For me the Head Coach is the guy that counts and he should be the first in place.
We have lived without a D.O.R for a long time.
He should be a long term guy that has the union in his blood,Jaques Botes,Stephan Terrblanche,not some high paid mercenary who hasn’t stayed anywhere longer tan two years.
Gold and Venter are coaches and they should either coach or leave.
@The hound (Comment 52) : yes!
@robdylan (Comment 50) : @The hound (Comment 52) : If Im not mistaken the first rejection came because the “Sharks couldnt afford him”.
The UKZN Impi must be rolling in the cash.
@The hound (Comment 52) : How about Butch James, he has the Sharks in his blood.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 54) : no, I mean since this latest “vacancy” has become available (in the last 2-3 weeks) Mitchell has twice confirmed on radio that he’s not interested, as well as saying so via Twitter
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 55) : we tried hiring him once and he barely showed up for work the whole year. I think it’s time to let that experiment rest
@robdylan (Comment 57) : I know, I was stirring, I should have but one of these 😈 after the comment.
@robdylan (Comment 56) : I have not once seen or heard his latest rejections. Personally, I wouldnt mind giving it a bash BUT the words of some of the Lions bloggers here (who I gather are close to their union) keep ringing a warning in my ears.
In any case I have heard Mitchell on a few occasions saying that he is dedicating his time to his business venture in Pietermaritzburg.
@robdylan (Comment 51) : That is so true. Even though we as supporters feel a bit negative atm, we love the team and that jersey. I would like to believe the players putting them on before a match,feel the same way. Even if it sometimes mean we don’t have the best player in the country in a certain position, but the guy playing there, plays cause he loves the team he is playing for.
@robdylan (Comment 51) : True, no use having a player when he wants to be somewhere else. And that goes for any player – no matter what his achievements are / were!!!
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 54) : It was W.P who couldn’t afford the R4million not the Sharks.
@The hound (Comment 62) : R4 mil – bloody hell Im in the wrong profession lol
@The hound (Comment 62) : http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Sharks-couldnt-afford-Mitchell-20141204
@robdylan (Comment 51) : Agree 100%, couldn’t have said it any better.
@robdylan (Comment 51) : I couldn’t agree more.
@HeinF (Comment 49) : noted.
Huge concern. Talk of Chester Williams being seen around KP.
@Uli Boelie (Comment 68) : Lets hope he is on holiday..
@Uli Boelie (Comment 68) : He was playing golf on the North Coast on the weekend, lets hope that he was on a nostalgia trip.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 70) : Mallet was there as well now there’s a frightening prospect,Chester,Mallet and Gold.
@The hound (Comment 71) : Goeie Donder. 😯
And in other news the sharks just announced the signing of Wandile Mjekevu. Sure Rob is writing the article as we speak ????
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 59) : Not close to the Union . Just trying to apply some logic . Things did not work out with JW at the Sharks . Mitchs left the Lions for similar reasons to JW .
What the Sharks need is some consistence in the coaching department .
If you look at JM’s track record , do you think he will provide that to the Sharks ?
You might win the CC , but after that you might have to hire a new coach and start over again . Rather get somebody now that you know will stick around for at least 4 years .
@Uli Boelie (Comment 68) : The Lesser Spotted Left Wing.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 75) : ROFL hahahaha
@RedSharkUtd82 (Comment 73) : you know me too well
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 54) : Do you mean “must have?” Because he was only at the Impi for 1 year?
@robdylan (Comment 51) : I’m going to throw my “agree” hat into the ring too!!
@robdylan (Comment 77) : 😉
@pastorshark (Comment 78) : Yep, and then the Impi were broke and could only afford a real coach. 😈
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 81) :
@Uli Boelie (Comment 68) : Chester head coach with P Divvy as assistant…bring it on
@SheldonK (Comment 83) : Well, the press conferences would be brightened up a fair bit!