Bulls announce 3 new signings ahead of URC season
The new recruits follow hot on the heels of double World Cup-winning flyhalf, Handre Pollard, who announced he’d be coming back home to play for the Bulls back in March this year.
FILE: Montpellier's South African centre Jan Serfontein reacts during the French Top14 rugby union match between Montpellier and Pau (Section Paloise) at GGL stadium in Montpellier, on 23 November 2024. Picture: Sylvain THOMAS/AFP
JOHANNESBURG - The Bulls have announced three new signings ahead of the new United Rugby Championship (URC) season, which kicks off in September.
Centre Jan Serfontein and locks Marvin Orie and Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg will all be returning to the Pretoria-based franchise where they started their professional careers. Each of the trio is capped at international level and will add plenty of quality to the player stocks at Loftus Versfeld after playing in France.
The new recruits follow hot on the heels of double World Cup-winning flyhalf, Handre Pollard, who announced he’d be coming back home to play for the Bulls back in March this year.
Serfontein, who made 48 appearances for the Bulls between 2013 and 2017, has signed an initial three-year contract. He makes his comeback to the nation’s capital after eight seasons with Top 14 side Montpellier.
Orie, a World Cup winner with the Springboks in 2023, is back on a short-term deal, having spent the early part of his career with the Bulls before stints with the Lions, Stormers and Perpignan in France. He has signed for one season, which begins with the Carling Currie Cup campaign.
Janse van Rensburg left the Bulls in 2016 after two years in the senior team, where he struggled to get game time. He went to Montpellier, as well, where he played in more than 150 games over the last nine years. He enjoyed a successful spell there were he won the Top 14 title and the EPCR Challenge Cup. His experience and title-winning pedigree will be welcome at Loftus.
Among the list of the Bulls’ priorities now will be to hire a new coach after parting ways with director of rugby, Jake White, last week. A few names have been linked to the franchise already, including former Bok coach, Jacques Nienaber, ex-Lions coach, Johann Ackerman, and Franco Smith, who is currently head coach of the Glasgow Warriors.