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Franco Mostert latest Bok to make Premiership switch

Gloucester Rugby have confirmd the signing of South African international lock Franco Mostert from the Lions.

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Springbok second row Mostert arrives in the form of his life after playing a key part in the Lions’ march to the 2017 Super Rugby final, and was last week named in the South African squad for the summer test series with England.

In the current Super Rugby campaign, Mostert has been an ever-present for the Johannesburg based outfit, displaying his leadership skills in captaining the side, and his versatility operating at both flanker and in the more familiar second row.

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A player whose signature has been highly sought-after across Europe, the 27-year-old second row was keen to renew his relationship with Johan Ackermann and will be reunited with his former Coach in Cherry and White this summer.

Often topping the tackle charts and line out catches, Mostert’s arrival adds even more world class quality to the second row options for the Cherry and Whites, alongside Ed Slater, Tom Savage, Mariano Galarza and the recently announced new signing Gerbrandt Grobler.

Mostert began his career with the Blue Bulls in Pretoria, before switching to Johannesburg with the Lions, making over 50 appearances for the Ellis Park team to date, including captaining the team for much of the current Super Rugby campaign, and playing a key part in the franchise’s improvements in recent seasons.

Standing at 6’6″ tall, the imposing South African has racked up 18 appearances for his country to date, scoring his first international try last Autumn against Italy.

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Mostert also represented the Ricoh Black Rams in the Japanese Top League, before he returned to Super Rugby with the Lions.

Director of Rugby David Humphreys is thrilled that Mostert will be joining the Cherry and Whites next season.

“Franco has proved to be one of the stars of Super Rugby, and we are delighted that he will be playing in Cherry and White next season.

“We know the Gloucester fans love their physical, hard-working forwards, and Franco is exactly that. He has so many quality attributes, and this is a big sign of our intent as a squad to push to the next level.

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“Obviously Franco is a player that Johan is very familiar with, and Franco will know what Johan expects from his players, and he is the type of character that will fit in well to our squad.

“He is a current international, and has been captaining the Lions throughout the Super Rugby season, so he displays leadership skills that will again benefit our squad.

“With the squad looking forward to the challenges of Champions Cup rugby this coming season, we need quality throughout our squad as at times it will be tested, and Franco adds to our second-row stocks, in an area of real strength and depth.”

Mostert is excited for a new chapter in his career, for him and his young family, and is looking forward to the tests in Cherry and White.

“I’m excited about this move, because it’s a new chapter in our lives. I’m excited to learn about the English league, and also the values of my new team, and the things I’ve heard from other players are very positive. I hope to bring a new energy to the team.

“I am beyond excited to link up with Coach Akkies [Johan Ackermann] again, we have come a long way together, it wasn’t always the easy way but that is why I have so much respect for him as a coach, and as a role model. He has had a big influence on my life in more ways than one.

“I am always excited and ready for new adventures, and it is nice to have a new challenge and I like a challenge, as it pushes me to be the best and keeps me driven.”

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J
JW 39 minutes ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

This piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well.


I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.


Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.


The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.

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