Sharks fighting to keep Aphelele Fassi amongst transfer rumours

Sharks Director of Rugby Neil Powell made it clear that he wants Aphelele Fassi to extend his stay in Durban.

Recent reports suggest that the Stormers are eyeing the Springbok’s services. The 25-year-old’s contract expires at the end of this year and a move to Cape Town could be hard to turn down after the Stormers’ success on the field recently.

The Stormers were the subject of several transfer reports last week with flyhalf Manie Libbok linked to French club Racing 92. Rugby365 was told that a ‘BIG‘ transfer fee for the pivot, coupled with a player swap would be very attractive for the Cape franchise.

If that were to happen, Fassi could provide the Stormers with extra options in that backline as Damian Willemse will probably take over the flyhalf duties.

However, Powell is hoping it doesn’t come to that and the Durban franchise is ready to present Fassi with a new offer.

“We are obviously negotiating and we would like to hang onto Fassi,” Powell told reporters on Thursday ahead of his team’s United Rugby Championship clash against the Lions on Saturday.

“We will have those discussions with him away from the game and when we feel it’s appropriate to speak to him about it.

“We don’t want to take his focus away from this weekend [against the Lions] and what we need from him this weekend.”

On that fixture at Ellis Park on Saturday, Powell knows how vital it is to get a win after his team suffered a demoralising 19-46 defeat to the Stormers two weeks ago.

“We all know these next three games [Lions, Ulster and Stormers] will be important, but again the focus can only be on our performance,” Powell explained.

“I think sometimes you get beaten by a better team and sometimes you play well enough to be successful and the only things we can control is what we want to achieve from this weekend.

“We have planned accordingly and selected the team accordingly. I think we will take it one game at a time.

“It’s no use focusing on the Ulster [Durban] game or the Stormers game in Cape Town in two weeks.

“The focus and the energy needs to go into this game against the Lions.

“From a mental and a physical perspective, we will make sure that we pitch up for that game on Saturday.”