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'It's a real shame' - Kriel exits Gloucester mid-season

Jaco Kriel /Getty Images

Gloucester Rugby have confirmed that Jaco Kriel has been released early from his contract to return home to South Africa to re-join the Lions.

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The Springbok back row forward moved to Kingsholm in the summer of 2018, and quickly became one of the most well-respected players in the squad, popular with staff and supporters alike.

However, his time in Cherry and White has been disrupted by injuries and he has been limited to 20 first team appearances to date, including just five this season. He has been sidelined since late November with an ankle injury and has been continuing his rehabilitation back home in South Africa in recent weeks.

Director of Rugby David Humphreys confirmed that Kriel’s request to be released early from his contract had been agreed with a heavy heart.

“It’s a real shame. But Jaco has personal reasons for wanting to return home and, although we very much want him to stay, we are sympathetic to his request. We are fortunate that the back row is a position of strength for us.

“I’m personally really sorry to see Jaco leave Gloucester Rugby without him ever really getting the opportunity to show the supporters just how good a player he is. He’s been so unfortunate with injuries, but I’m delighted he’s now got the opportunity to get back playing Super Rugby with the Lions.

“Jaco’s ability and leadership qualities, and the standards he set in everything he did at the club, will be missed by everyone but I wish him every success for the rest of his career back in South Africa.”

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Meanwhile, Kriel admitted that he’s enjoyed his time at Gloucester Rugby and that the club will always hold a special place in his heart.

“I have genuinely loved it here. It’s an outstanding club with outstanding people and, despite the injuries, I don’t regret a moment of it. I’m just sorry that I couldn’t deliver more out there on the pitch.

“Gloucester Rugby will always mean a lot to me though, and I genuinely wish them all the very best going forwards and will have fond memories of my time as part of the Gloucester family – especially matchdays at Kingsholm, they were special moments.

“Thank you for making me so welcome – I will always appreciate that.”

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


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