Kings very active in the market
The Southern Kings continued their recruitment drive ahead of their re-entry into Super Rugby next year.
Veteran prop Schalk Ferreira, who played Super Rugby for the Kings in 2013, is the latest recruit for the Port Elizabeth-based franchise.
He will be returning to PE on a two-year contract and will join them ahead of the Eastern Province Kings' Currie Cup campaign that gets underway in August.
The 31-year-old Ferreira – who also played for the Stormers before moving to PE – has been playing for Toulouse in France since 2013.
The have recently also confirmed the signing of centre JP du Plessis and prop Basil Short.
This followed the announcement of a loan agreement with the Blue Bulls for Jacques Engelbrecht to join the squad for the Currie Cup season, as well as the signing until 2016 of young prop Nicolaas van Dyk.
Du Plessis and Short are already taking part in a training.
The 24-year-old Du Plessis, who attended Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, played for the WP Craven Week and SA Schools teams in 2010 before heading for Sydney where he linked up with Rugby League side the Sydney Roosters.
He later returned to Rugby Union, signing for Melbourne Rebels and making his debut in Super Rugby against the Hurricanes.
He then played for the Stormers, Montpellier in France and the Cheetahs. When playing in France, Montpellier coach Fabian Galthie lined Du Plessis up to quality for the French national team before a knee injury scuppered those plans.
Du Plessis returned to South Africa to play for the Cheetahs and will be keen to make an impact at his preferred position of outside centre for the Kings.
The 24-year-old Short, who attended Standerton High School, joins the Kings from the Blue Bulls after making his first-class debut in the Vodacom Cup in 2012.
He represented the Bulls Under-21 side which won the provincial championship in 2011 and 2012, and also claimed a winner's medal with Tuks in the Varsity Cup tournament from 2012 to 2014.
Meanwhile, the Kings also announced that experienced prop CJ van der Linde would be leaving the union at the end of June to take up a contract with Montpellier.
The 34-year-old Springbok played 75 Tests for South Africa from 2002-2012 and looks set to wind up his career with a spell in the French club scene.
