Sharks' Springbok exodus confirmed
NEWS: Sale Sharks confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets – they are set to lose a number of Springboks at the end of the season.
The Premiership club confirmed that World Cup winners Francois de Klerk and Lodewyk de Jager are both heading for the exit door.
De Jager is, reportedly, heading back to South Africa – where a number of franchises are vying for his services.
The Stormers are said to be leading the chasing pack, while the Durban-based Sharks and Bulls have also been linked with his services.
De Klerk is linked to a big-money move to Japan, where he will join up with former Lions coach Johan Ackermann at the Hurricanes.
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Scrumhalf De Klerk has made 95 appearances for Sharks since joining from the Johannesburg-based Lions ahead of the 2017/18 Premiership season, scoring 14 tries and 39 conversions in his 241 points for the club.
De Jager, 29, has played 25 times for the club, scoring three tries, since he joined them from the Pretoria-based Bulls after the 2019 World Cup.
Both players played in their country’s third World Cup victory in 2019, with De Klerk starting at scrumhalf and De Jager starting in the second row in the Boks’ 32-12 win over England in the Final.
The pair also played key roles for Sharks last season as the club finished third in the Premiership and reached the play-offs for the first time in 15 years.
An injury picked up in the 2021 British and Irish Lions series forced De Klerk to miss the start of the current Premiership season, but since returning to fitness he has made nine appearances, scoring one try in a 26-24 win against Gloucester at the AJ Bell Stadium.
De Jager, who has played 53 times for South Africa, missed the end of last season after suffering a broken leg in training.
But after returning to play in the British and Irish Lions series, he carried that momentum into the current season, and his 14 appearances for Sharks – 10 in the Premiership and four in the Champions Cup – have helped propel the club into play-off contention once again.
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