While neither move has been officially confirmed by the Sharks, our information is that centre Paul Jordaan and lock Tjiuee Uanivi have both agreed moves to European clubs and will join a number of other Sharks players in leaving Durban at the end of the current Super Rugby season.
Jordaan, having a fantastic season after nearly a year out injured, is perhaps unimpressed at missing out on any form of national recognition and has thus penned a three-year deal with French side La Rochelle. The move had been widely reported in the French press and since the player’s fiancee is discussing it openly on social media, I see no reason for Sharks fans to be kept in the dark. It’s a real blow for Gary Gold, who has few other options in the tricky outside centre channel and must now, surely, turn his mind to trying to make S’bura Sithole successful in the position.
Uanivi, who was signed from Brive in France after a good World Cup for Namibia, has seemingly failed to make the necessary impression. He was loaned out to the Kings even before the season began, only to be brought back to Durban when Ruan Botha was injured. 20-year-old Hyron Andrews was preferred in the Super Rugby squad and the Sharks have clearly decided to cut their losses now; Uanivi will join the Glasgow Warriors ahead of the new European season.
With young Tristan Tedder on his way to Toulouse this week, and the likes of Marcell Coetzee, Joe Pietersen and JP Pietersen all confirmed as leaving already, the Sharks are facing the sort of exodus that tends to stymie plans to maintain continuity from season to season. Disappointing, but it’s the way the world works these days, seemingly.
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S’bura Sithole is no centre.
Sad to have Jordaan go, we will just see more and more of this every year.
Unfortunately it seems that’s the way the cookie crumbles these days.
@KingRiaan (Comment 2) : By this rate the Sharks may as well close shop.
2016 sucks. I demand a refund.
Makes for depressing reading…bring on the Olympics!
These exits just highlight even more the poor performances of the Sharks XV as these guys are going to have to step up. Cant see us making use of the chequebook as there is no CEO in place and well i think that chequebook is probably a bit thin at the moment. Another worrying CC ahead….
@Uli Boelie (Comment 3) : Yeah, I just hope that we unearth some diamonds in the youngsters that is going to have to make the step up. Hopefully we get some more April’s coming through
@KingRiaan (Comment 7) : Sharks might actually be forced to coach their way out of this one – same as the Lions had to a few years ago.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 8) : I think you are right, and it might just be a blessing in disguise.
Very sad about Jordaan, but the euro looks mighty tempting when the new bok coach gives you the bloody finger.
Wonder why Jordan never went the 7’s route,he would have been perfect.
Marcel is my only real regret …what a mamba!
Fuxit! 😕
@The hound (Comment 11) : Absolutely! He has the perfect build/speed/skills combo for it. He probably wanted to see whats his chances with the 15’s Boks 1st.
@Quintin (Comment 14) : Him and Reinarch
Marcell and Jordaan are the only 2 I feel are losses. The problem we now face at 13 is we’ve not looked at anyone else so whos it gonna be Sithole?
@The hound (Comment 15) : Yeah but I reckon Reinach still has a chance to get back into the Bok squad, as long as he performs the way we know he can, and not the way he’s done this season.
Any word on Willie? Is he staying or leaving?
@Pokkel (Comment 13) : 😆
@Hulk (Comment 16) : Marcel ‘with one L’ Coetzee
Why Jordaan !?! One of my fav players
@Ben (Comment 18) : no decision yet
@Pokkel (Comment 13) :
😆
It’s the way of the world today. But I can’t say that he deserved a Bok look-in this year anyway. All the best to him.
@Big Fish (Comment 23) : He played his best rugby with Whitehead on his inside
@Uli Boelie (Comment 24) : very true. Whitehead was very underrated for us, he got our midfield working well. So sad to see Paul leave.
What’s our future back three/midfield.
Mjekevu, Mvovo, Bosch back three
Esterhuizen, Sithole midfield?
Who in the U21/U19 should I look for?
@Here be dragons (Comment 25) : @Uli Boelie (Comment 24) : Reason is Whitehead was a playmaker at 12…makes a big difference. Esterhuizen is a very different player and is a “traditional SA 12”
@SheldonK (Comment 26) :
Oversimplification. You noted that we’ve had some changes from 6 to 10 of late?
@Big Fish (Comment 27) : Perhaps but doesnt change the fact that teams look better when their 12 is more of a play maker than a basher. All Blacks, England and even Aussies evidence of that. Argies as well.
@SheldonK (Comment 28) : @Big Fish (Comment 27) : @Uli Boelie (Comment 24) : When last did we have a really good center pair? Not just a stop gap(Marius) or a wing playing out of position(JJP, Sithole). We need to sort that out with a solid pair of centers that has good chemistry.
@Here be dragons (Comment 25) : sharks wing sbu nkosi sa u20.
This cannot be sustainable.
That’s a huge loss for the Sharks!!! Jordaan has not only had his best season at the Sharks but it was also the best performance/play of a Sharks 13 for many years!!!
@Quintin (Comment 29) : MJ was a mistake a huge huge mistake!!! To be fair to JPP he was voted the best 13 in the Japanese league so maybe he’s a bit better than a “out of position wing”!
@Bokhoring (Comment 31) : especially not now that the quality of our schoolboy players is decreasing rapidly year on year.
@JD (Comment 33) : Yeah, but it’s the Japanese ‘league’ so Keegs can play center and win the same award 😆 😆
@robdylan (Comment 34) : You talking about Natal school boys, or SA school boys as a whole?
@Quintin (Comment 35) : don’t think so there’s a couple of quality guys playing there!
@robdylan (Comment 34) : @FireTheLooser (Comment 36) : yes that’s a good question?!?! Personally I would also blame the coaching abilities (or maybe lack thereof) of school boy teams!
@JD (Comment 38) : If it’s a kzn schools problem, then that’s easily overcome by keeping the Sharks brand attractive to potential SA school boys – most Kzn fans aren’t from Kzn, only those with British passports seem to believe Sharks players should hail from Natal.
If it’s an SA schools problem, then all of SA is in trouble….
@robdylan (Comment 34) : @FireTheLooser (Comment 36) : Not so sure teh quality of the schoolboys from KZN is the problem, I think it is more a problem of retaining them. Take a look at the teamsheets of the u19’s that played last weekend and see how many of them were playing for other Provinces – WP had 4, Bulls, Lions, EP etc all have KZN schoolboys from last year playing for them.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 40) : Silly kids don’t know how good they have it growing up and living in Kzn…what could possibly possess them to go inland?…or are the Sharks traditionally that poor at recruiting school kids?
@FireTheLooser (Comment 39) : like I said I think the problem start with Primary school coaches picking size over skills to win games. When the big kids lose their size advantage most do not know what to do and they disappear leaving the smaller guys without the skills to step up!
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 40) : @FireTheLooser (Comment 41) : big problem is the lure of Varsity Cup rugby something KZN don’t have!!!!!
@JD (Comment 43) : Sharks need to partner with Pukke…uKzn rolled over without putting up much of a fight, clearly not taking varsity cup as serious as the Sharks needed them to.
Coordinating this will however be a major challenge.
One thing I’ve noticed is how poor our recruitment has been overall recently, look at all our signings over the past say two years and who has stuck around.
@robdylan (Comment 34) :
What do you base that opinion on?
Results at the U20 WC were: 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
No rapid decline there. Is there another metric somewhere that would show this? Or were you talking about just the Sharks situation?
@Quintin (Comment 29) : The current pair we have/had could really have developed into a good partnership as they have different but complimentary aspects of their play. So sad to see Jordaan leave. I dont think Sithole will combine as well with Esterhuizen…maybe ill be proved wrong. Perhaps this is also why Heimar has stuck around knowing his old school mate is leaving.
@Here be dragons (Comment 45) : without money this is what happens
@SheldonK (Comment 28) : at the moment the AB’s and England has a playmaker at 12,but surprisingly not Australia they have that big Fijien guy at 12 think his name is creby or something,with the basher thing I agree it’s better to have a playmaker at 12 than a basher but if a basher gets over the A-line every time and manages to offload it’s just as good as a playmaker .
@schrodingers cat (Comment 49) : Yes the ABS and Eng, Aussies try Kervi at 12 which backfired in the first 2 tests so they replaced him with Tamooa in the last test and looked a lot better. Think the Aussies will persevere with the playmaker at 12- they would have picked Beale if he was fit i reckon. Dont get me wrong there is more than 1 way to play but what i have noticed is that teams identify a basher at 12 and therefore target him taking the ball into a ruck and their loosies are in there to win the ball and can fully commit as chances are he isnt going to pass and a good tackle negates an offload. Reason i like a good passer/playmaker at 12 is that it means defenses have to be a bit more passive as if they fully commit a good pass/kick from the 12 will throw out the defense alignment big time. The more there are options the harder it is to defend is the basic idea.
@SheldonK (Comment 50) : Thats why the best 12 in the world is Frans Steyn he can do everything you mention and a whole lot more,its a disgrace that he is not the first name written down on the Bok team sheet.
@The hound (Comment 51) : Cant argue with you there. I can tell you there are a lot of teams that are glad that the Boks dont pick him.
@SheldonK (Comment 47) : I think your right about Sithole and AE combining. It just frustrates me that Sithole hasn’t played a whole lot of high level rugby this year and most of us has been calling for him to get some minutes almost every game this season. Now that we know that PJ is leaving, we are sitting with our fingers stuck in our asses because we went the very safe route of playing Odders ahead of him, albeit not on center, I’m just referring to game time.
@The hound (Comment 51) : You won’t get anyone that agrees with you more about FS playing on inside, the way the Sharks and more Boks treated him (positional merry-go [email protected] yourself and SARU’s contract balls-up). He is a world class player, you have to look after them, they don’t grow in the fruitful world class player orchid.
@SheldonK (Comment 52) : The All Blacks being the main ones.I would love to see Pat 10,Frans12 and Mapoe.13
@The hound (Comment 51) : @SheldonK (Comment 52) : do you guys know why he’s not playing,is it really cause allister doesn’t see him as the best or are there other reasons
@schrodingers cat (Comment 55) : Because he told Heynekke Meyer to go fuck himself.
@The hound (Comment 54) : Again cant argue with that thinking.
@schrodingers cat (Comment 55) : i think its probably a bit of a combo of tensions with SARU and also AC wanting to play the local guys. There is meant to be some sort of policy decision on overseas players soon so will be interesting to see that outcome.
@SheldonK (Comment 50) : one of the best 12 Australia had was a playmaker (Matt giteau),so i agree with you it just gives a team more options.look at Wales for example they continued with Robers running a out to in line trying to get over the A-line and it obviously didn’t work the only time it will work is if you could offload in contact . With a quick player running of it
@The hound (Comment 56) : lol
One thing I love about frans is he’s no nonsense attitude,I could actually imagine him telling Heynike to go fuck himself with that angry his.
@schrodingers cat (Comment 59) : Yeh look im a big fan of a playmaker at 10 and 12. However, a bigh basher in the Jamie Roberts/Esterhuizen mould can work but only if there are dummy runners running similar lines to him which means defenses have to hold and he can get over the advantage line and there are then guys there to clean and create quick ball. Sa teams attack looks tame because very often there is only 1 realistic option…where as the All Blacks will have 2/3 guys that could realistically run onto the ball and attack.
@schrodingers cat (Comment 59) : Both times we have won a WC we have played two flyhalves at 10 and 12,Stransky and Le Roux,James and Steyn
@schrodingers cat (Comment 55) : @The hound (Comment 56) : As far as I have it, SARU promised him something(agreed to a set amount on his contract?) and they didn’t deliver. I’m not sure, but remember reading something like that quite a while ago.
@Quintin (Comment 64) : There is more to it but basically SARU told him that in order to play for the Boks he must play in SA, so he gave up a very lucrative contract to come back and play and when he does then they start picking guys overseas.
@SheldonK (Comment 65) : There was also a big problem with Mattfield who appointed himself the on field coach
The whole fees thing was a cover story for that personality clash.
@The hound (Comment 66) : Both being Afrikaans boys im surprised there was a personality clash…i didnt know about that
@SheldonK (Comment 65) : Well then I would have given them the finger as well. That is plain stupidity from SARU, but I bet HM had a word in it to.
@The hound (Comment 66) : Our so called ‘on field coach’ under HM only won 1 game in 4 years against the AB’s, we can say what we want, we could have beaten them more regularly had it not been for HM selecting his Bulls or ex-Bulls buddies.
If it is because he’s playing overseas I think it’s a lame excuse from SARU,cause they let other players play for the boks that are playing overseas.
Judging by the list posted on SS, the Sharks will be losing the least amount of players of all the SR teams.
Although, none of the Sharks guys are returning for SR…
@schrodingers cat (Comment 70) : It’s more about how they handled the situation than anything else, FS lost out on a fuckload of money coming back to SA at their request only to go on and select oversees players anyway. Money aside, it would also piss me off.
@SheldonK (Comment 67) : just a curious question.Are there such personality clashes in the bok setup in terms of cultural differences like example the Bulls being a predominantly Afrikaans Union and other provinces like sharks being more English and therefore players not mixing together that well in the bok setup, the AB all have one culture and all understand each other .I presume when Heynike coached the Bulls and the boks he probably only spoke Afrikaans in change rooms etc. and therefore picking players his comfortable with working ?
@schrodingers cat (Comment 73) : Look its possible but i cant say for certain. Also dont assume teams like the Sharks are english speaking…there is a big afrikaans culture in the sharks team and even throughout the clubs etc. Same can be said of WP side. So it could just be personality clashes with players believing the game should be played in different ways where as in new zealand every team pretty much plays the same way from high school all the way through.
@Quintin (Comment 72) : Now I understand,Really don’t blame Frans I would also be angry ,just a pity he couldn’t cary on with his international carier I mean really the man won a WC at 19
I see that SS also lists Kyle Cooper moving to Newcastle. That’s news to me.
@SheldonK (Comment 74) : I thought that all the SA sides played a similar style of rugby
@schrodingers cat (Comment 77) : I think there is an effort to move towards that now but in the past definitely not and even now there are big differences.
@vanmartin (Comment 76) : Nothern Natal isnt that bad i guess… 😉
@vanmartin (Comment 76) : Kyle is probably moving to the Newcastle in North Natal,to take charge of Dick Muir’s cabbage fields
@SheldonK (Comment 78) : do you think the Bulls are ever going to go back to the style that worked for them in the past?
@schrodingers cat (Comment 81) : I dont think they have the players to execute that style. It required a very good and aggressive pack and educated boots at 9/10. They have different players now. Thats one thing SA coaches are not that good at- adapting the game plan to the player skills they have.
A real loss to see Jordaan going, he has really been good this year, but all the best to him