Brüssow: The facts!
Springbok flank Heinrich Brüssow is not lost to the Cheetahs and South African rugby.
It was reported on Thursday that the 26-year-old, who played the last of his 20 Tests for the Boks at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, is leaving SA to further his career in Japan.
However, this website can confirm that Brüssow will return to the Cheetahs for Super Rugby next year and will remain available for the Boks – if wanted by coach Heyneke Meyer when he plays Super Rugby.
Brüssow – like other Japan-based Boks, which include Andries Bekker, Jaque Fourie and Fourie du Preez – will not be considered for national selection during the period that he is in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Cheetahs assistant coach Hawies Fourie confirmed to this website that Brüssow, who made his Bok debut against England and Twickenham in 2008, signed a two-year contract to play in Japan.
"After the Super Rugby season he [Brüssow] will head to Japan and then he will return [to the Cheetahs] in February next year," Fourie said, adding that the flank is only lost to the Cheetahs for the Currie Cup season.
"We would have liked to have had his services in for the Currie Cup competition," Fourie told this website, adding: "He is a key player in our set-up.
"However, the money he will earn that side [in Japan], compared to the money he will get from us [for playing Currie Cup rugby], is a massive difference – that is what he looked at.
"The flipside is that we can use him for Super Rugby again."
The Cheetahs mentor said financially Brüssow will be better off, because for the six months that he is in Japan he will get a lot more money than what he will get in SA and then when he comes back he gets paid to play Super Rugby as well.
"Those two together make it financially viable for him," Fourie added.
Several media reports have suggested Brüssow's move is a result of his continual omission from the Springboks squad.
He has failed to make the national team since Heyneke Meyer was appointed in 2012.
Several reports have erroneously suggested Meyer claimed Brussow is a penalty liability.
However, Meyer has made it public he prefers a specific flank for the type of game he wants the Boks to play.
By Jan de Koning
