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Bulls fans despair at massive player exodus

Bulls fans are not happy with players leaving the Super Rugby club (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The Bulls and South African rugby as a whole look set to be hit by a huge player exodus after the World Cup, as a raft of Springboks have announced moves to Europe or Japan.

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This is something that is endemic across all South African rugby, but the Bulls have been hit particularly hard in Tuesday with the announcement that Handre Pollard will be joining Top 14 outfit Montpellier and RG Snyman will be joining Japanese outfit Honda Heat.

Those developments have happened alongside rumours that other stars such as Jesse Kriel are expected to leave.

As it stands, this means that South Africa’s likely four locks at the World Cup will be playing abroad after the tournament. Lood de Jager will be moving to Sale, Eben Etzebeth will move to Toulon in France, Snyman is going to the Far East, and Franco Mostert is already playing for Gloucester.

The loosening of the Springboks caps ruling has meant that players can play elsewhere and still play for their country for the first time. With clubs in France and Japan able to offer more money than both club and country can together in South Africa, it is no surprise that there is this mass exodus.

(Continue reading below…)

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However, Bulls supporters have reacted angrily to this news on Twitter, as they fear the three-time Super Rugby champions will no longer be able to compete at the highest level. This is what the fans have said:

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https://twitter.com/hendrivanwyk13/status/1128269400967135233?s=20

https://twitter.com/Borchie_09129/status/1128310271234252800?s=20

While former Springboks Morne Steyn will return to the Bulls, this will not please many fans, as they would clearly want to keep hold of a player in his prime like Pollard rather than a 34-year-old. However, the South African clubs seem fairly powerless in this and the exchange rate does not currently help them.

The Bulls are not the only side that are suffering, though, as every club looks set to lose a raft of players at the end of the year. Snyman and Pollard are not the first and will not be the last players to move abroad.

WATCH: Jim Hamilton’s Rugby Explorer documentary on South Africa

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Nickers 24 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.

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