Northern Edition

Select Edition

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

The Vincent Tshituka twist in Siya Kolisi's Parisian escape

Hollywoodbet Sharks' Vincent Tshituka with the trophy during the EPCR Challenge Cup Final match between Gloucester Rugby and Hollywoodbets Sharks at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 24, 2024 in London, England.(Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images)

Siya Kolisi’s imminent return to the Sharks is set to encourage a host of French clubs to pursue a move for Vincent Tshituka, who is in the final year of his contract with the franchise.

ADVERTISEMENT

RugbyPass sources in France tell us that Toulon, La Rochelle, Pau, Montpellier and Toulouse all had the uncapped Congolese-born open-side flanker on their shopping list for next summer.

But they could offer him an immediate escape route using Kolisi’s imminent return as a wedge to praise open the departure gates despite his happiness to see out his contract in Durban.

Video Spacer

Philip Snyman on how BlitzBoks restore pride in the SVNS jersey

Video Spacer

Philip Snyman on how BlitzBoks restore pride in the SVNS jersey

Tshituka, 25, who played alongside younger brother Emmanuel at the Lions before his move to the Sharks in May 2022, can also play at No 8 and lock, making him even more attractive to French suitors.

The signing of Kolisi, as well as a heavy summer spending programme that has seen them bring in Springboks Jordan Hendrikse, Andre Esterhuizen, Jason Jenkins and Trevor Nyakane, has been costly for Sharks owner Marco Masott.

Ironically, Emmanuel, who can play anywhere across the back row, was also signed at the end of last season, adding to their squad’s embarrassment of riches.

And allowing Tshituka to leave for the French immediately instead of at the end of the season would at least allow them to recoup some money albeit a small fraction of what they have splashed out to avoid a repeat of last season’s disaster.

ADVERTISEMENT

A member of the side that beat Gloucester in the Challenge Cup final in May, Tshituka, has made 31 appearances for the Sharks and is likely to have won international honours but for South African government red tape.

Even though the family arrived in Johannesburg in 2002, they would need to be granted citizenship to launch a bid for a place in Rassie Erasmus’ squad.

Related

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

A
AM 45 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

72 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Tommy Seymour: ‘I'm just glad I'm not playing now. There's an embarrassment of riches’ Tommy Seymour: ‘I'm just glad I'm not playing now. There's an embarrassment of riches’
Search