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Northampton sign Skosan, the Springboks winger last capped in 2017
By Sam Smith
Chris Boyd's Northampton have unveiled the signing of Springboks winger Courtnall Skosan from Sigma Lions. The 30-year-old, who earned the last of his twelve caps for South Africa in 2017 versus Italy, has made over 100 appearances across the Super Rugby and Currie Cup competitions.
A Northampton statement read: "Blessed with explosive pace and an impressive work rate, as well as sharp handling and kicking game, Skosan is a winger with plenty to offer on both sides of the ball and brings bags of experience to Northampton’s group of back three players.
"Growing up in Cape Town, where he was noticed playing 7s by Springbok legend Chester Williams, Skosan’s break came in Pretoria with the Blue Bulls at the start of his career before making the switch to Johannesburg to play for the Lions in 2014 – winning the Currie Cup one year later, and reaching the Super Rugby final three years running from 2016-2018.
"The winger also played for South Africa at the World Rugby U20 Championship in 2011 and South Africa A in 2016 before his full international debut for the Springboks in 2017.
"Skosan will land at Franklin’s Gardens in the coming weeks with Saints’ preseason preparations for the new Gallagher Premiership campaign now in full swing."
Skosan said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be taking on a new adventure in England with Northampton Saints. It's a club with an incredible history of success, competing in two of the best tournaments in the world in the Premiership and Champions Cup, and I’ve heard fantastic things about how good it is to play at Franklin’s Gardens. I’m relishing the opportunity to get over to Northampton and hit the ground running with such an exciting group of players and coaches.”
Northampton boss Boyd added: “Courtnall obviously is a winger with a sharp turn of pace and a high level of athleticism, but he also brings a fantastic work rate and is well suited to the physicality of the Premiership.
"He has plenty of experience playing top-level rugby internationally with South Africa and in Super Rugby with the Lions. We know he will add something unique to our back three group so we're delighted to bring him to Northampton ahead of the new season.”
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Australia definitely the game of the weekend. Wallabies by 3.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
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