Vodacom Bulls and Springbok centre Jesse Kriel has been linked with a move to join the Canon Eagles in Japan after the World Cup later this year.
In rounding up some of the interesting snippets of news making headlines around the world, it’s reported that Kriel has already informed the Bulls and SA Rugby about his intention to accept an offer from a Japanese club and that he is set to link up with Coetzee at Canon.
According to Rapport, the Bulls are fighting hard to avoid a player exodus. Boks Handré Pollard, Ivan van Zyl an Marco van Staden have also received lucrative offers from overseas clubs, but have not decided on their futures yet.
‘We have a potential crisis on our hands. It’ll be a big loss, but we can’t say much about it at the moment,’ Bulls CEO Alfons Meyer said.
Southern Kings to release a host of players
Kings high-performance director Robbie Kempson says 20 players have been informed that they will not be offered contract renewals for next season’s Pro14. The Kings are reportedly looking to make several new signings and need to free up funds to do so.
Speaking to Rapport, Kempson said while it was a difficult decision, they had to do what is in the best interest of the franchise and their longevity in the Pro14.
‘We started this conversation with the individual players early in April, because it would’ve allowed them at least three months to look for something else.
‘But for the Kings to be competitive in the Pro14, we need to strengthen our squad with different players.’
Kempson added that they are looking at signing former Kings and Stormers flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis, who is currently playing for English club Harlequins.
‘We are still in negotiations with Demetri’s agent and Harlequins, just to make sure everything is done according to the book, but we will definitely reveal more about him next week.’
Deon Davids on Cheetahs’ radar
Kings boss Deon Davids is reportedly one of the shortlisted candidates in line to replace Franco Smith as Cheetahs head coach. Smith will vacate the position to take over the Italy coach after the World Cup.
Maties’ Hawies Fourie has been strongly linked with the Cheetahs job, while there is also interest from the union to bring back Rory Duncan. But according to Rapport, Davids’ name has now also been thrown into the had.
Meanwhile, the Cheetahs are also believed to be looking at the Stormers’ Paul Feeney to take over as their new attack coach.
Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
