Brits to end retirement with new club lined up - reports
Schalk Brits, who recently retired from professional rugby, may be in line for a quick return to the game, with Netwerk24 reporting that he could be set to join the Bulls next season.
Brits, 37, turned out for the Springboks in the third Test with England last month and instead of being billed as a fitting finale to the South African’s illustrious career, it has raised questions over whether or not the hooker could be in the mix for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The former Saracens player was coy on his future in post-match interviews but refused to rule anything out.
After arriving in north London in 2009, Brits went on to win multiple Premiership and European Rugby Champions Cup titles with the club, ripped up the textbook on how hookers in the competition should play and showed none of the signs of slowing down in his 30’s that the majority of players encounter. Even in his last season, at the age of 36, Brits was pivotal to helping Saracens win their fourth title during his stint at the club.
The Bulls have had an up and down season in 2018 under new head coach John Mitchell, flashing a new-found ability with ball-in-hand, but also lacking the consistency to truly challenge for a spot in the competition’s playoffs. The arrival of Brits would certainly bring experience to the group and provide a more than able replacement for the retiring Adriaan Strauss.
Brits isn’t the only player linked with the Bulls, with Netwerk24 also reporting that Duane Vermeulen, 32, could be set to make the move to Pretoria, too.
Between Brits and Vermeulen, the pair would bring 28 years of professional rugby experience to Mitchell’s side, with Brits lifting seven trophies in his nine seasons with Saracens and Vermeulen a consistent performer at the highest level, winning 42 caps with the Springboks.
For a competition that has to more regularly deal with losing experienced players, the potential addition of this veteran pair could prove to be quite the coup for Mitchell.
You may also like: Behind the scenes with Bristol Bears
Latest Comments
Finau is definitely operating on razor thin margins. He hasn’t done anything wrong… yet. But a player going into contact 6 inches lower than he is expecting, without him even knowing, will end in disaster. You can imagine a situation where the pass dies on Edmed and he has to bend down a little lower to catch it at the last second. Finau’s hit would have been catastrophic. The margins are just too fine. He needs to study how PSDT, at 6’7”, manages to drop his tackle height and exert just as much force with close zero danger of taking someone’s head off. Given how poorly NZ has adapted to lower their tackle height, and that this issue which has plagued the ABs for years and played a big part in them not winning the World Cup, I thought NZR and all SR coaches would be prioritising sorting this issue out. If I was Razor I would be on the phone to Clayton MacMillan and Samipeni Finau saying exactly that. Finau is a monster and shaping up to be the closest thing to Kaino since Kaino, but I wouldn’t risk selecting him for the ABs at the moment.
Go to commentsThe surprising stat I saw in the Blues game when showing Sotutu equaling the Blues forwards record was that Akira has not scored a try since 2019. Now my memory is pretty bad when it comes to those sorts of the things, I can remember his AB try though, but anyway I can’t see I can remember his last blues touchdown or any in recent years. Surely that still has to be a bogus stat. Maybe excludes SRA games?
Go to comments