Wandisile Simelane attracting interest from France, England and Japan
Wandisile Simelane and his man-of-the-match display against Sale Sharks in the Investec Champions Cup on Saturday could have secured him a lucrative move abroad when his contract runs out at the end of the season.
Johannesburg-born Simelane, 26, was brilliant in the 40-0 six-try demolition of Alex Sanderson's side in Cape Town as they bounced back from not scoring a point in the opening two rounds of the competition.
Former South Africa U20 international outside centre Simelane can also operate at full-back and on the wing and joined John Dobson’s side in January 2024, making nine appearances, including three this season.
He has been attracting interest from the Top 14 in France, the Gallagher Premiership and Japan’s Rugby League One, with clubs now expected to step up their bid to lure him away from Dobson’s side.
Simelane, who started his career with 32 appearances for the Lions before playing 15 times for the Bulls, is wanted by Top 14 outfit Castres, Premiership big guns Bristol Bears and Japanese outfit NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu.
Clubs like Exeter Chiefs, who want to add an outside centre to their squads in the summer, could now join the race to sign Simelane, who last year got married to the content creator and actress Bianca Coster.
Dobson admits that Simelane can be a special player and couldn’t hide his delight when they tempted him to make the move to Cape Town after Ruhan Nel suffered a long-term injury.
“Wandisile is an incredibly talented player who is looking for a new start, and we are happy to give him the opportunity to grow here, where he will be competing with some top players already in our system.
“We pride ourselves on helping players get their careers on the right trajectory in our environment and we all know the huge potential he has, so hopefully we can help him realise that here,” said the Stomers boss.
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Barnes is on the board of the RFU as referee representative. The Referees Union who wrote the letter calling for a Special General Meeting over the pay of execs/losses and more made mistakes. A symtom of a good letter is that you can stand behind every line in it as factual. While there are several good points in their letter they allowed a few ill thought out rants. This meant that the Board via Wayne Barnes can undermine the letter by focusing on the inaccuracies which weakens the real points. I'm not saying Barnes is acting untoward, he's not, he is concerned about refs showing hypocricy and he is also defending the RFU.
The Referees position is weakened simply by not being able to write a proper letter.
This is not untypical of sporting organisations and representatives at all levels.
Go to commentsYes, it will become much harder to target an opposing scrum now, which is why I think having a solid rather than dominant scrum will be enough for teams in the future. While the impact of the 30 second law is still to be fully felt, the free kick law has already had an impact. I can't imagine the Boks taking many quick taps from free kicks in the past. They would have taken a scrum to work a penalty or continue their 'slow poison' on the legs of the opposition. With that option off the table the scrum has already become less important as a weapon.
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