Sale fans will be seeing double as Diamond recruits South African twins

Sale Sharks have sign Springbok internationals Jean-Luc & Daniel Du Preez from the Cell-C Sharks. The 23-year-old twins have signed loan deals and will follow their brother Rob to Manchester for the start of the 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership before returning to South Africa to play for the Cell-C Sharks in the 2020 Super Rugby Tournament.

Sale Sharks supporters will be familiar with Jean-Luc after an impressive spell with the club earlier this season. The 6ft 5in back rower joined the Sharks in November as cover for Tom Curry who was injured during the autumn internationals.

Jean-Luc made an instant impact in Manchester. He added huge physicality to the Sale Sharks pack, making six appearances in total for the club scoring one try before returning to Durban in January.

Both twins made their first-team debuts for the Cell-C Sharks in 2015 and have since gone on to make over 60 appearances each for the Durban-based franchise.

The powerful back rowers have both represented the Springboks at senior level and offer an immense physical presence on the international stage, Jean-Luc has been capped 13 times by his country while Daniel has made four appearances to date.

Sale boss Steve Diamond said: “I'm delighted to secure the services of both Jean-Luc and Daniel ahead of the 19/20 Gallagher Premiership.

"Both lads are huge men with a commanding physical presence and to be able to add two world class internationals to our forward pack for next year is a huge boost for the club. I look forward to welcoming both twins to Carrington later in the year.”

Jean-Luc said: “I’m really excited and honoured to announce that I will be joining Sale Sharks again. I really enjoyed my short stint with the club late last year, so much so that I have decided to sign another short-term contract in the UK.

"The club has set really high standards and the squad that has been built is really exciting and signals the clubs intent within the Gallagher Premiership. In the meantime, I'm fully committed to the Cell-C Sharks and want to finish the season on a high before I head over to the UK for the winter.”

Twin drother Dan added: “I’ve heard some really good things about the club from Rob and Jean-Luc and can’t wait to link up with Sale in the winter and play some rugby in the Gallagher Premiership with my brothers. I’m excited about the new challenge ahead in Manchester and can’t wait to test myself in one of the toughest leagues in the world.”

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