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Kings and Stormers ready to bolster squads with former South Africa U20 stars
The Kings have been making waves since they were taken over by The Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World, with the firm acquiring a 74% share in the team back in March.
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The Guinness PRO14 club are the first South African side to be independently owned in the modern era and it didn’t take long for the rumour mill to whir into action, with former All Black Julian Savea one of the first names linked with the team. That move didn’t come to be, although with a partnership formed between the Kings and Toulon, not to mention well-publicised issues between Savea and Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal, the link was understandable.
The Kings are busy remodelling their squad for the 2019/20 season, though, and recently announced contracts extensions for core members of their senior squad, including Yaw Penxe, CJ Velleman and S’bura Sithole, as well as the signing of Irish lock Jerry Sexton.
Sexton could soon be followed by two further additions to the pack at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, with Cheetahs pair Junior Pokomela and Sintu Manjezi both being lined up, per HeraldLIVE.
Pokomela, 22, and Manjezi, 24, both grew up in or around the Port Elizabeth area, before playing their youth rugby with the Eastern Province Kings. Pokomela left for the Cheetahs in 2017, a year after impressing for the South African U20 side at the Junior World Championship, whilst Manjezi joined him in Bloemfontein a year later in 2018.
With the Kings now financially better able to retain talent, they seem keen to bring back these two homegrown products and bolster a back row unit that already includes Velleman and Andisa Ntsila.
Pokomela and Manjezi are not the only EP Kings academy graduates that could be on the move this summer, either, with RugbyPass sources confirming that current Sharks centre Jeremy Ward is in the sights of the Stormers.
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Ward, 23, is a former South Africa U20 captain and starred alongside Pokomela at the 2016 edition of the tournament. He made the move to the Sharks in 2017 but has struggled to breakthrough into the first team, in part due to the form of Lukhanyo Am.
If Ward were to move to the Stormers for the 2020 Super Rugby season, he would find himself in a competition with JJ Engelbrecht to partner Damian de Allende in head coach Robbie Fleck’s midfield.
With the Sharks set to lose Coenie Oosthuizen, Akker van der Merwe and Robert du Preez to Sale Sharks at the end of this season, as well as possibly Ward to the Stormers, the Durban-based Sharks could find themselves in the market for a number of reinforcements in the coming months.
Watch: The controversial Nations Championship is back on the agenda
Comments on RugbyPass
The value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
10 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
51 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
10 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
51 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
51 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
51 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
51 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
51 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
51 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
51 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to comments