Northern Edition

Select Edition

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

Racing 92 terminate Siya Kolisi's contract

South African flanker Siya Kolisi of Racing 92 in action during the Top 14 match between Racing 92 and Stade Rochelais at Paris La Defense Arena on November 26, 2023 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Christian Liewig - Corbis/Getty Images)

Racing 92 have terminated the contract of South Africa captain Siya Kolisi after only one year of his three-year deal in Paris.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 33-year-old has been heavily linked with a return to the Sharks and that move appears to have taken a step closer.

The 88-cap Springbok arrived at La Defense Arena at the end of 2023 after lifting the Webb Ellis Cup for the second time.

Video Spacer

Siya Kolisi happy after Freedom Cup win

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      Video Spacer

      Siya Kolisi happy after Freedom Cup win

      Springbok captain Siya Kolisi speaks to the media after South Africa’s 18-12 win over the All Blacks in Cape Town.

      Racing got their Top 14 season started on Saturday with a 31-28 loss to Castres, which Kolisi missed while still on duty with the Springboks in the Rugby Championship.

      Kolisi was guiding the Springboks to back-to-back victories over the All Blacks while Racing were getting their domestic campaign underway, winning the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009 in the process.

      Fixture
      Top 14
      Castres
      31 - 28
      Full-time
      Racing 92
      All Stats and Data

      A Racing statement released on Sunday reads: “Siya Kolisi and Racing 92 announce that they have mutually agreed to terminate the contract that linked the South African third row to the sky and white club until 2026.

      “Both parties thank each other for the sporting moments spent together under the sky and white jersey and wish each other much success in the rest of their sporting careers.”

      ADVERTISEMENT

      RugbyPass reported recently that the potential return to the Sharks was back on after American businessman Vincent Mai stepped in and offered to finance the R17 million (around £726,000) transfer fee being demanded by the Top 14 outfit.

      The double World Cup-winning captain’s relationship with the club may have turned sour following accusations by Racing President Jacky Lorenzetti that he had “gained weight, lost shape” and that he was “invisible” in Racing’s playoff loss to Bordeaux-Begles last season.

      Related

      ADVERTISEMENT

      HSBC SVNS Singapore 2025 | Day Two Men's Highlights

      HSBC SVNS Singapore 2025 | Day Two Women's Highlights

      Jet Lag: The biggest challenge facing international sports? | The Report

      Boks Office | Episode 39 | The Investec Champions Cup is back

      Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry? | New Zealand & Australia | Sevens Wonders | Episode 5

      Kobelco Kobe Steelers vs Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

      The Rise of Kenya | The Report

      The Fixture: How This Rugby Rivalry Has Lasted 59 Years

      Trending on RugbyPass

      Comments

      17 Comments
      M
      Michael 210 days ago

      Reduce club games and increase internationals. No one really cares about club rugby. Give the players more money from the international season. Personally I don't care how he plays for the Sharks or R92. All that matters is that he performs for the Boks. Which he does for sure.

      R
      RW 210 days ago

      I reckon it would be brilliant to be an invisible player. No-one would see the tackles coming.

      J
      J Marc 210 days ago

      Siya Kolisi is not the first Bok underperforming in top14. May be top14 is too long or may be it is Erasmus instructions : " take money and don't return home too tired". As long as french clubs are enough silly to pay them, why they would not go on.

      But ,may be this time the end is coming....

      W
      Werner 209 days ago

      Not exactly sure what Rassie would get from such instructions. Anyway.


      Of course not all players are suited to playing in Europe or away from home. Same can be said about most SH players. And then again many boks and SH players have faired really well in the top 14 and won titles with their teams.


      I remember one of the managers requested Julian Savea be DNA tested because he was failing to deliver as expected and "couldn't possibly be the real Julian Savea"

      F
      FC 210 days ago

      If you've done the recruiting and the management, and the employee, who performed well everywhere else he has been employed, still doesn't perform, you may just be a big part of the problem...

      J
      J Marc 210 days ago

      But I totally agree with you and I think it's a little bit what I write. But,as you said, there are other parts of the problem.

      There lots of SA very talented players in top14, some of them unknown even in SA, and they deserve lots of cheers. But ,when they watch Eben Etzebeth with the boks, Toulon people are convinced it was his step brother who played for them two years ago. To be kind I will not talk about H Pollard. Cheslin Kolbe became a Bok when he was playing for Toulouse. Two years later, diplomatic injuries and underperforming appears . I am not sure about coincidence. In french we have a sentence :" Killing the chick with golden eggs". I hope this is what they are doing, but I am not sure, us silly french, will understand. And J Lorenzetti is half swiss...

      J
      J Marc 210 days ago

      Lorenzetti talked about Siya Kolisi playing for Racing.He did not talk about SK amazing life. And sorry but he was right.

      B
      BM 210 days ago

      Was Siya underperforming, possibly, likely, yes. How you critique a player is as important as how you build them up. Lorenzetti saw something he liked in Siya, that is why he signed him. So why then would you tear down a player you invested so much in? If it didn’t work out, it didn’t work out - no need to get personal. There’s constructive criticism and there’s destructive intent- what Lorenzetti did was destructive. He completely razed the relationship to the point where the player didn’t want to play there anymore. At the end of the day, Racing as an organization is poorer for it, bc even though he gets his $ back, he’s probably lost the team bc they’ll never trust him to back them when times get tough. The bigger picture - always back your players, in good and in tough times. If you need to clean house, do it quietly and amicably. It’s called good HR, something that does not exist in the French lexicon.

      B
      BM 210 days ago

      All is well that ends well. Think it was really unfortunate that the owner of such an influential team would criticize a player of this calibre in such a way. Of course this is a business and all investors want to see a ROI, but its quite another thing to sour relations with your talent whom you intend to have a business relationship with for 3 years. At the end of the day, money isn’t everything - this game will only get better with good player retention and better player performance and advocacy. Future recruits beware of this owner. Best of luck to you Siya.

      J
      JK 211 days ago

      Big paycheck + a year in Paris = not bad

      J
      JD 210 days ago

      I live in France. You think a year in Paris is an attractive proposition? I wouldn't even do it if you paid.

      D
      DP 211 days ago

      Nice. Come home where you’re appreciated.

      Load More Comments

      Join free and tell us what you really think!

      Sign up for free
      ADVERTISEMENT

      Latest Features

      Comments on RugbyPass

      A
      Andrea Irvine 2 hours ago
      Blues lose All Black for season ahead of Hurricanes derby

      I can rewire a human brain, course through the most sensitive neural pathways, and restore life with steady hands and a sharp scalpel. But it would appear none of those prepared me for the horror of a hardware wallet that had decided it wanted to self-destruct. It had been years since my Ledger device had sat comfortably in my drawer, unvexed and pristine, like a relic from my earlier Bitcoin investment days. Then came the fateful evening when I decided to switch it on just to check on my stash. That is when I was greeted by an error message so incomprehensible that it could as well have been written in ancient hieroglyphics. At first, I kept calm. I had been in life-and-death situations before, so surely, I could troubleshoot a problem with my wallet. Rebooting? Nothing. Firmware reset? Even worse. With every attempt, my precious $680,000 worth of Bitcoin seemed to slip further from my grasp. The real panic set in when I realized that I had stored my recovery phrase somewhere "safe"-so safe that even I couldn't remember where it was. Hours of frantic searching, multiple YouTube tutorials, and a last-ditch effort to reach out to Ledger support resulted in one grim conclusion: "Your funds may be irretrievable." As a neurosurgeon, I’m used to bad news—but this? Unacceptable. That is when I discovered TECH CYBER FORCE RECOVERY. A little skeptical I was- if they couldn't help me, a manufacturer of the device, then how would anyone else? I had nothing to lose. The moment I reached out to them, I knew I had done the right thing: I was professional, transparent, and confident that they could recover my lost Bitcoin. They performed some kind of digital wallet emergency surgery, getting everything back in six days. Through what can only be described as magic, by way of forensic techniques, they bypassed corruption and extracted my private keys and every Satoshi, to boot. If it stopped there, that would've been great; then they walked me through how to properly secure my assets going forward more "too safe to find" backups. I may be the expert in the operating room, but when it comes to resuscitating a dead crypto wallet, TECH CYBER FORCE RECOVERY is your team on call. Cold storage has failed; don't try to self-operate, just get the pros in before your Bitcoin flatlines. VISIT THEM ONEMAIL: Techcybersforcerecovery@cyberservices.comTELEGRAM: @TECHCYBERFORCWhatsApp: +1 561 726 36 97

      3 Go to comments
      LONG READ
      LONG READ Champions Cup: And then there were eight... Champions Cup: And then there were eight...
      Search