Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Bulls confirm Pollard departure and announce surprise replacement

Bulls' Handre Pollard is heading to France after the World Cup (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

A Rugby World Cup year is always a daunting one for South African Super Rugby sides, with the player exodus that usually follows the global tournament a tough one to deal with.

ADVERTISEMENT

Plenty of players have already announced their departures for Europe or Japan, with the Sharks trio of Coenie Oosthuizen, Akker van der Merwe and Robert du Preez all taking up permanent deals with Sale Sharks in the Gallagher Premiership, whilst Eben Etzebeth and Stephan Lewies are among the others departing South Africa.

Bulls second row Lood de Jager will be joining the Sharks trio in the north-west of England at Sale and he is not the only star getting set to leave the Loftus Versfeld stadium and Pretoria, either.

Bulls CEO Alfons Meyer confirmed on Tuesday that Springbok fly-half Handre Pollard would also be calling time on his current stint with the Bulls.

“It’s one of those things. We tried everything to keep Handre here,” he told Netwerk24. “But we simply can’t compete with this exchange rate.”

Pollard has been linked heavily with a move to French side Montpellier, whose owner Mohed Altrad stated on Monday that a deal had been agreed in principle to sign the 25-year-old, but that the contract had not yet been signed.

Meyer did offer some positive news for Bulls fans, however, with a replacement for Pollard already lined up in the form of veteran Morne Steyn. “Morne is hugely experienced and could be an excellent mentor for Manie [Libbok]. Rassie Erasmus has given us his blessing. He also believes that Morne will be a good buy.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Libbok, 21, is a former South African under-20 stand-out who has been beginning to break his way in the Bulls senior squad over the last year and is capable of performing at both fly-half and full-back.

The return of the 34-year-old Steyn, who accrued over 120 appearances for the Bulls before departing for France in 2013, will give head coach Pote Human better depth at the position, as well as not requiring him to rush through Libbok before the youngster is ready.

WATCH: Jim Hamilton’s South African edition of Rugby Explorer

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

N
Nickers 25 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

41 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
Search