URC signings of the season
The arriving South Africans set the standard in last season’s United Rugby Championship as the Stormers sunk the Bulls to clinch the trophy in riveting style.
The onus is on the European teams to regroup and reload, while the South Africans are eager to reassert themselves as the league’s dominant force.
To that end, recruitment will be vital. Big-name Springboks are now heading home. The Irish provinces have money to burn and as the Premiership salary cap falls, some of the Welsh and Scottish sides are in favourable financial positions.
Here, RugbyPass+ picks out some of the smartest additions of the off-season.
Charlie Ngatai (Lyon to Leinster)
Leinster have a proud history of recruiting foreign totems, men who add value with their excellence on the field and their cultural input off it. Think Rocky Elsom, Isa Nacewa, Nathan Hines or Scott Fardy. Each has been central to their European success.
Ngatai seems cut from the same cloth. A hugely intelligent centre, the one-cap All Black has overcome the concussion issues and injury problems that dogged the middle chunk of his career. He excelled for Lyon last term on their charge to the Challenge Cup trophy and averaged 10m per carry in the Top 14.
Crucially, he will be available to the province year-round, with Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose lost to international duty and rest periods.
At 32, with his nous, carrying and distribution, Ngatai should be a perfect fit for Leinster’s stupefying multi-phase fare.
Taulupe Faletau (Bath to Cardiff)
World-class. Together with Liam Williams, Faletau’s return to Wales is brilliant for Cardiff. They are getting a Lion of immense pedigree, a ferocious carrier and jackaler and a leader to steer them away from the malaise that took hold last term.
Though Faletau has battled well-documented injuries, and will be with Wales during the autumn and Six Nations, he brings so much to the table, on and off the field. Cardiff already have a fine posse of loose forwards with James Botham, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Ellis Jenkins and Josh Navidi among the most prominent, and Faletau should have a telling influence on the emerging crop.
Sbu Nkosi (Sharks to Bulls)
Jake White has lost Madosh Tambwe, his galloping winger, to France, but in Nkosi, he has sourced a fantastic replacement. The 26-year-old is a bustling, try-scoring menace with ball in hand, and will be lusting to win back his place in the Springboks squad with the World Cup looming.
Nkosi battled injuries for much of last season and is still working his way back from a damaged ankle. When he gets up to speed, the Bulls will have a superb, and hungry, attacking threat.
Centre Wandisile Simelane, who moves from the Lions, is another pulse-quickening capture.
Vaea Fifita (Wasps to Scarlets)
A few years back, before the scandal at Saracens and the scourge of Covid-19, it would have been fanciful to consider Scarlets taking a premier Wasps player mid-contract. No longer, though, as the Premiership salary cap plummets and teams offload players to squeeze their spending under the limit.
Fifita leaves Coventry a single year into his three-season contract. He is a remarkable player. Few forwards of 6ft 5ins and 110KG move with his blistering speed. Fewer still have his flamboyant handling. Fifita took time to acclimatise to northern hemisphere rugby, but with a 18 Wasps appearances under his belt, should be well placed to fire in Llanelli.
If Scarlets can get him motoring, particularly in the same pack as Sam Lousi, the results could be spectacular.
Eben Etzebeth (Toulon to Sharks)
The Sharks are tooling up at a frightening rate, hoarding more South African beef than the average Cape Town steakhouse. Carlu Sadie – all 140KG of him – arrives from the Lions. So does Vincent Tshituka, a thoroughbred back-row who ranked in the top 20 for carries, tackles and breakdown steals in last year’s URC.
But Etzebeth, for all he will be missing on Springbok duty, tops the lot. The great colossus is at the peak of his powers right now. Free from injury. The youngest South African to reach 100 caps. A world-class cocktail of aggression, athleticism and ability. At home, he will be managed far more carefully than he was in Toulon, where the callous words of his club president stung. As a result, the Sharks should get a fit and snarling Etzebeth to spearhead their maiden voyage in the European Champions Cup.
Malakai Fekitoa (Wasps to Munster)
Munster have had limited success with the last two World Cup winners they brought to their great province. RG Steenkamp suffered two awful injuries and has hardly played. Damian de Allende’s impact grew last season, but he has now left for Japan.
To fill the void, Fekitoa, a world champion in 2015, arrives from Wasps. Fekitoa has endured similar fitness issues. At his best, he is virtually unplayable; devastating in attack, destructive in defence. And wonderful to watch. If Munster keep him fit and anywhere near his peak, he will be a game-breaker for them.
Antoine Frisch could be a really canny acquisition, too, after a top campaign in a struggling Bristol Bears side.
Wes Goosen (Hurricanes to Edinburgh)
This one should be fun. Goosen has a terrific try-scoring record, with 31 bagged in 71 matches for the Hurricanes. Edinburgh under Mike Blair play joyous rugby; they will look to give their new attacking weapon a heap of ball to make the most of his finishing prowess.
Goosen has big shoes to fill after Edinburgh let free-scoring Argentine Ramiro Moyano go, primarily for financial reasons, but he could be just as effective, while not at risk of being lost during international windows like his back-three colleagues Emiliano Boffelli and Darcy Graham.
Sam Skinner, who joins from Exeter Chiefs, is another major addition for Blair.
Huw Jones (Harlequins to Glasgow Warriors)
Jones was never truly happy in four years as a Glasgow player. His relationship with Dave Rennie was strained, and while he fared better under Danny Wilson, struggled to conjure the kind of sumptuous rugby seen during much of his Scotland career while the Warriors laboured.
The centre has been tagged with an unfair perception too. Some have accused him of being a big-time Charlie, only interested in taking on the All Blacks and Springboks and big boys of the European club scene. This is unjust and untrue and Jones struggled to unshackle himself from the notion during his Scotstoun stint.
At Harlequins, he found a home and a team who played with greater abandon. He shone at full-back a well as in midfield but with the shrivelling salary cap, was forced to move on. Word is, Jones might have been keener on a move to France, where Stade Francais were a legitimate suitor, but he has plumped, ultimately, for a return north and a crack at the World Cup squad.
With Franco Smith installed as head coach, expect Glasgow to play with flair and Jones to soon establish himself as a key cog.
Comments on RugbyPass
Oh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
2 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
2 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
7 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
26 Go to commentsI’m yet to see why Grace would be an ABs contender. He’s pedestrian and lacks the dominance required of a top flight 8.
11 Go to commentsGee my Highlanders were terrible. They have gone backwards since the start of the season. The trouble began when we left Millar behind to prep as the 10 against the Brumbies and he was disconnected from the team that came back from Aussie. We rested Patchell for that game and we blew an avalanche of ball in good attacking positions in the 1st half. Against the Rebels we seem to of gone into a pod system with forwards hanging off from the breakdown leaving Fakatava to secure our ball!
80 Go to comments