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Northampton confirm exit of ex-Springboks wing Courtnall Skosan
Former Springboks winger Courtnall Skosan will leave Northampton at the end of the season – but there is no indication where he will be playing his rugby in 2023/24. The South African arrived in England in 2021 and was a regular starter under then-boss Chris Boyd, but he slipped down the pecking order under the current director of rugby, Phil Dowson.
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A statement read: “Northampton Saints can confirm that Courtnall Skosan will leave the club at the end of the 2022/23 season. The winger – who has scored 19 tries in black, green and gold – departs the club after making 37 appearances in a Saints shirt to date.
“Joining Saints from South African side Lions, Skosan arrived in Northampton with 12 Springbok caps to his name, as well as over 100 appearances across the Super Rugby and Currie Cup competitions with the Lions. The winger also played for South Africa at the World Rugby U20s Championship in 2011 and South Africa A in 2016 before his full international debut for the Springboks in 2017.
“Skosan hit the ground running after touching down in Northampton – with the 31-year-old scoring an impressive hat-trick of tries on debut against Worcester Warriors in 2021 before adding a further ten tries in his first term. The former Springbok has made 16 appearances so far this season.”
Dowson said: “Courtnall is a very good man and I feel very strongly about him and his time at the club. It’s fair to say Courtnall has made a significant impact on the field too, his ability to score tries has been an incredible asset but his work rate in all the other areas of his game is just as impressive. He is an absolute professional and I know he will continue to give his all as we fight for a playoff place, after that Courtnall will leave with our very best wishes.”
"It’s going to be an interesting one for me"@therealskosan is loving life in the NH with @SaintsRugby He now faces the prospect of facing his countrymen in Europe, of all places/ writes @heagneyl ???https://t.co/clmFegduY2
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 4, 2022
Skosan added: “Thank you to Saints’ management, players, and staff for the last two seasons. And to the fans – thank you for the support. You really are a force to be reckoned with. There is no better feeling than to play in front of a packed Franklin’s Gardens. For now, though, I’m looking forward to finishing this season off on a high. God bless.”
It was December, in a long-read interview with RugbyPass, when Skosan referenced his contract situation at Northampton. “It’s just this season, but hopefully longer,” he said at the time. “We are hoping to stay overseas, that is the main goal for us. I want to challenge myself; I want to keep growing as a player. That is the main focus.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments