Courtesy of Steve Haag (and used with permission), we’ve got a lovely pic of most of the new guys coming in for Currie Cup this year.
From left to right in the image below, we have:
Christiaan de Bruin – a 22-year-old lock forward who moved to Durban from Pretoria at the start of the year. De Bruin attended Waterkloog in Pretoria and represented the Bulls at u19 and u21 level before joining College Rovers ahead of this year’s Community Cup.
Michael Claassens – the 32-year-old Bok scrumhalf, who joins the Sharks from Toulon, shouldn’t really need much of an introduction!
Joe Pietersen – mercurial Pietersen, 31 years-young, was born in Vryheid, but made his name in the colours of Western Province and the Stormers. He most recently played for the Cheetahs after a stint in France and is comfortable at both flyhalf and fullback.
Philip van der Walt – another former Cheetah, the 25-year-old back rower originally hails from the Eastern Cape, where he attended Adelaide Gimnasium. He joins the Sharks from Biarritz in France.
Wade Elliott – the 23-year-old loose forward is a born and bred Natalian, hailing from Port Shepstone and attending Glenwood High School. He’s come up through the club ranks and has also played Varsity Cup rugby for NMMU.
Juan Schoeman – this 23-year-old former Affie is a specialist loosehead who has played for the Blue Bulls at age-group, Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup level. Schoeman represented the Junior Boks in 2011 and is the elder brother of another Bulls junior prop, Pierre.
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Good group of new players. So did that Zim prop not crack the nod?
Nice! Thanks Rob. This is pretty cool.
So is it confirmed that Juan Schoeman will be playing for us then? Or still just training with the rest of the squad?
Lekker to have a fellow old Klofie there! Represent! 😛
Ginger power!
Paging Vinnie. Smooth legs on display. We don’t judge 😀
Christiaan de Bruin looks like a big unit.
@vanmartin (Comment 4) : 😆
@Bump (Comment 5) : He really does! I’ve tried to find his info. All that I can find, has him at 1,98m, but the site also has his weight as 98kg and position as wing, so not too sure about trusting those figures!
Nice to see a big lock in there. Looks very sturdy as well, thick legs and knees which should make some people very happy.
Welcome guys!
I was expecting today to be the day of announcements regarding player departures…
Welcome to Durbs guys hope you enjoy playing for the Sharks!!!! Black and White Nothing Else Matters!!!!
Welkom by die Sharks manne!!! 😉
Marcell signed for another two years!!!!!
@Ice (Comment 13) :Seriously???? Wow that is awesome news!!!!!!!!
@RedSharkUtd82 (Comment 14) : for sure!
@Ice (Comment 13) : Awesome. Thanks for letting us know!
Welcome men!!! Have a blast and make us proud…
@Ice (Comment 13) : Yesssssssssss!!! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!!! Best news post Super Rugby…
@Ice (Comment 13) : Well done, John Smit!!!
@pastorshark (Comment 18) : Well done Sharks! The WP admin are well known to fail in the transfer market. Its a great coup for the Sharks, I am hoping that with Brussows readmission into the Boks that Smal can convince him to stay in Super rugby….and come shore up the openside vacancy at the Stormers ! Well done again Sharks ….
@pastorshark (Comment 18) : You called it 😀
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 21) : I did…of course, I also said that PSdT would be leaving…so let’s see how that goes…
A nice Sharks squad taking shape…just the odd signing to go and the playing personnel looks pretty good…
is Jaco Van Tonder still in the mix ? Poor guy was always just on the outside of the teama
is tyler fisher back from 7’s duty ?
@revolverocelot (Comment 24) : Van Tonder is out for the season…injured! I don’t know about Fisher…
@pastorshark (Comment 22) : must say never a doubt about Marcell not signing for WP, after all his dad’s a Bulls supporter so Marcell would have been grounded for years if he signed for them!!!!
@robdylan (Comment 16) : hey Rob wanted to ask is the old Sharky back? I’m sure I saw him at the Stormers game?
Congrats on signing Schoeman. Exciting player for a prop. Really wanted to see more of him on senior team sheets and now is his chance.
Very surprised the Bulls didn’t use him earlier with all the scrum issues of the last few years, but decisions at the Bulls the last 4 years were not very sharp up until 2 weeks ago. Luckily we still have his brother, for now…
@Ice (Comment 13) : As if there was ever any doubt 😉
@JD (Comment 26) :
@Blue Centurion (Comment 28) : I’m looking forward to seeing him play…and seeing him develop…
@Blue Centurion (Comment 28) : what position does he play? You know Sharks like signing brother!!!!
@JD (Comment 27) :
Yes Old Sharkie is back, but with a little bit of a new design to it.
@Blue Centurion (Comment 28) : Great to have your input as always! Did you read Brendan Nel’s piece by any chance: http://www.supersport.com/rugby/blogs/brenden-nel/Ludicrous_to_blame_it_all_on_Frans ? Love to hear your thoughts on it. Brendan is clearly not a fan of the Bulls high performance manager – he’s singled him out in a number of his columns.
By the way, if one subscribes to the theory that some Sharks senior players had undue influence at the union, the above piece is also worth a read. Seems the same rumours are making the rounds at the Bulls.
@JD (Comment 32) : Both are props. Hehe. We can share them like the Ndungane twins.
@vanmartin (Comment 34) : Yes I agree with the article. Xander has an attitude problem regarding contracting which is destroying Bulls’ “family” environment. No doubt Ludeke reached his ceiling in 2010 with poor selections contributing to his demise, but Xander ensured that any alternative will be shown the door.
As I gathered from a Fourie du Preez interview the other day, he wanted to play for the Bulls earlier this year and was refused. Given his experience, and the team’s final log position, it was a shocker.
The 2013 exodus of Steyn, Chilliboy, Juandre Kruger, Jano Vermaak – who was offered half his salary, both Potgieter flanks etc can be traced back to Xander’s ineptness.
Ian Schwartz’ role (of persuation and diplomacy to convince the best to come North or extend their stay) in the Bulls’ success can not be emphasized enough.
I mean Spies was a Bull since 2005? and instead of letting him down easy after giving so many years to the team, he is told that he is surplus to the Bulls’ requirements. Can yoy ina
But the changes at the Bulls the last fortnight are very positive and hopefully Xander got a wake up call with Ludeke out.
But I would feel alot more comfortable if Schwartz returns after Springbok duty.
Geez, there were paragraphs in there, I promise!
@Blue Centurion (Comment 36) : losing Schwartz was the single biggest factor in allowing other sides a chance to catch up to the Bulls.
@Blue Centurion (Comment 37) : You using the app? It doesn’t show paragraphs but I can see them on the PC.
Thanks for the reply. Makes for really interesting reading. Earlier Bulls teams had this sort of internal belief in themselves, that was very apparent on the field, where they would not only allow themselves to switch back a gear. When losing they’d always find something extra to give as a team. It made me dread watching them when playing the Sharks because the game was never over until the final whistle. Some call it a winning culture, others a family environment where you play for each other.
Whatever the case, I’ve always envied that about the union but they’ve definitely lost that somewhere along the way.
@Letgo (Comment 33) : hell glad to see him he looks waaaaaaayyyyyyy better than the “killer whale” Sharky!!! Just ask my kids!!!!!
@Blue Centurion (Comment 35) : ja for now ;-D