Top schoolboy movements
It's the hunting season and the targets are the young bucks of South African rugby. It is an intense time for talent scouts and likely to grow more intense.
The cheque books are out. In fact they have been out since the Grant Khomo Week. Top of the shopping list, it seems, of current schools players was Handré Pollard, the star of South Africa's Under-20 victory in the Junior World Championships.
He was/wasn't signing for the Blue Bulls and in the end the truth was allowed to come out that he was going to the Blue Bulls, the big buyers. Then he captained the Western Province team against the Blue Bulls in the opening round of Craven Week, had an awful game and withdrew from Craven Week because of an injury.
There are other movements mooted.
While Pollard is going north, two Blue Bulls players are heading south. Eighthman Steve Meiring and flyhalf Ryno Eksteen are heading for Western Province. Pieter Jordaan, the Free State flyhalf and centre, is also heading for Western Province.
Corné Cooper, the burly Western Province flank, is heading for Pretoria and so are three Academy Week players – Arno van Wyk, Justin Basson and Leighton van Wyk. Others heading to the Blue Bulls are South Western Districts pop Piet-Louw Strauss, rugged Golden Lions flank Chris Massyn, Boland prop Wilco Louw, Puma scrumhalf Kobus Wolmarans, Free State hooker Corniel Els and KwaZulu-Natal flank Carel Swart.
Then there are the Queen's College pair who were declared ineligible to play for Border this year because they had signed for the Blue Bulls – flyhalf Josh Stander and scrumhalf JP Smith who were at the 2011 Craven Week.
Then there are top players from KwaZulu Natal also moving up to the Blue Bulls – the Kriel twins of Maritzburg College and the College captain Reegan Smith.
Two other captains are switching unions. Despite the Eastern Province recruiting campaign, their captain Aidon Davis (Daniël Pienaar) is moving to the Free State and the tough Boland captain Gideon Koegelenberg is off to KwaZulu-Natal.
Also destined for the Free State are Griffons flyhalf François van Biljon, South Western Districts prop Marthinus Oosthuizen and Griquas fullback Granville Adams.
Namibia's outside centre, tall, fast Divan Visser, has signed to play for the Golden Lions next year.
There will be more. The hunters will seek and find more. There is a slight difference this year in that provinces are required to inform the player's home province if they are seeking to enter negotiations with him.
