Sale Sharks have completed the signing of a ‘captain-material’ lock from the DHL Stormers for the 2023-24 Premiership season.
Former Junior Springbok captain Ernst van Rhyn was confirmed as a new signing by the Sale Sharks on Thursday.
The 25-year-old, who can also play at blindside flank, has signed a three-year contract with the English side and will join Alex Sanderson’s squad ahead of the 2023-24 Premiership and Champions Cup season.
Van Rhyn brings an end to his time with his boyhood team, having spent the entirety of his career with DHL Western Province and the Stormers to date. The Paarl-raised forward made his 50th appearance for the Stormers against Harlequins in the last-16 of the Champions Cup.
He joins former Stormers second row Cobus Wiese among a plethora of South Africans at Sale, including flyhalf Robert du Preez, twins Daniel and Jean-Luc du Preez, prop Coenie Oosthuizen and hooker Akker van der Merwe.
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“I’m really excited about this move,” Van Rhyn told the Sale Sharks website. “Sale have a quality team full of world class players and I can’t wait to play with guys like the Curry and du Preez brothers. I really feel like we can achieve great things together in the years ahead.
“I spoke to Cobus before making my decision and the fact that there will be familiar faces and familiar voices at the club was definitely a factor.
“But more importantly, at this stage of my career, I felt like I really wanted to try a new environment and a new culture to grow as a rugby player but also as a person. I really want to keep pushing and challenging myself and the environment at Sale is the perfect place to do that.”
Sharks Director of Rugby Sanderson said: “We have a good track record of recruiting really good, young, aggressive, physical South African back five players and I’m confident we’ve got another one here in Ernst.
“He’s a really good player, but more importantly, he’s a really good character. He’s captain material and he’s been a leader in every team he’s played in and that’s testament to the kind of person he is.
“He lived with Cobus Wiese and I think they are forged from the same South African steel. They’re hard-working, tough and young enough to keep on improving.
“He is joining us at a really good point in our growth as a squad, and I think we’re getting him at the same stage in his development.”
Photo: EJ Langner/Gallo Images