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Hacjivah Dayimani exits SA on back of Springboks snub
By Neil Fissler
French giants Racing 92 are poised to make their fourth signing for next season, with Stormers back-row Hacjivah Dayimani on the verge of completing a move to the Top 14 title chasers.
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Fissler Confidential recently broke the news that Dayimani, 26, wanted to quit South Africa after he was Springboks alignment camp in Cape Town despite being under contract to the Cape Town side until the end of next season.
He was snubbed in favour of Elrigh Louw and Mpilo Gumede because Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus had concerns about him winning battles with other No.8’s.
“When we looked at his roadmap, and I am not talking specifically about him, I am talking about other loose forwards competing with other loose forwards and how many battles you get into and how many battles you win,” said Erasmus.
Dayimani, who plays No.8 or flanker, joined The Stormers from the Lions three years ago and has been in outstanding form in both the United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup this season.
He really caught the eye against Sale Sharks, beating 10 defenders and scoring his only try in 215 appearances this season in the Stormer’s 31-24 win, landing himself the man of the match award for his most outstanding performance of the season.
Racing have held off strong offers from Japan to sign the destructive ball carrier on a two-year contract with the option for a third year after he is released from the final year of his contract.
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Stuart Lancaster has been busy in recent months improving his squad after watching them slip to fourth place in the Top 14 table, a point behind Bordeaux and nine off Toulouse, with arch-rivals Stade Francais 10 ahead.
Former England captain Owen Farrell has been lured away from Premiership Champions Saracens, while Lyon pair Romain Taofifenua and Bemba Bamba have also been signed up.
Why is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
If he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
With Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
His decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
Is the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.