French club Montpellier have snapped up the signatures of two top SA midfielders – Vodacom Bulls veteran Wynand Olivier and DHL Western Province centre JP Du Plessis among their acquisitions ahead of the new European season.
SuperSport
Olivier, who returned from Japan to the Bulls earlier this year, has also requested an early release, which has been given, and it is likely he has already played his last game for the Pretoria team in this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby competition.
Olivier played for the Bulls in Durban last week but was dropped on Wednesday for rising star Jan Serfontein, and it is likely that with Francois Venter also returning to full fitness, the Bulls will be well covered if he is granted an early release.
Bulls High Performance Manager Xander Janse van Rensburg confirmed that an early release had been received.
“We knew there was interest from overseas and we did receive the request, which was granted, but that’s all I know at the moment,” Janse van Rensburg told supersport.com.
Olivier has signed for just one season whereafter it is likely he will either renew his contract or retire from the game.
Du Plessis has struggled since returning from Australia and played a handful of games for Western Province last year after a stint with the Sydney Roosters in Rugby League and was apparently unhappy in Cape Town, prompting the move.
The Kroonstad-born midifielder has played for the Stormers and Melbourne Rebels and in an interesting move has signed until 2016, making it unlikely for him to return to South Africa and opening up the possibility of qualifying to play for France.
Montpellier also added the names of Scottish international Jim Hamilton, Former Tongan and Australian lock Sitaleki Timani, former Highlanders utility back Anthony Tuitavake and French under-20 winger Lucas Smith.
Au Revoir Wynand Olivier, all the best for future in France! Thanks to the man as well for many years of service.
Just interested to read Olivier requested an early release (so presume was granted) from his contract… this is business and as the French clubs seem to be spending lots of money surely Montpellier should have paid a fee to secure his early release, do we know if this happened and of so how much was involved?
2 @ Bullscot:
I don’t think any transfer fees are involved and I know there is a massive aversion in Rugby in general to pay transfer fees of any kind or much less anything similar to the freegin Soccer stuff… and I’m personally glad there is that hesitancy and general anti-feelings towards the payment of any transfer fees.
What an early release basically does in the end is that it ends the contractual obligations by mutual consent a bit earlier, which means the Blue Bulls save on some salaries which might still have run for a while, on the one hand, and the player on the other hand is in a position where he starts earning Euros earlier per month.
So, if a player is not going to be used anyway… which was the likely scenario with Wynand at the Bulls, then they score by releasing him early.
Happy for Wynand, he was a good servant of Bulls rugby
As for the other chap, he has meant nothing for any team he signed with, glad he is leaving WP
I had some big hopes for JP du Plessis… it looked like he had the makings of a fine centre at one time… but he’s obviously not patient or prepared to put in the hard yards to get there at the end. He wants a quick fix, so let him go to France… and see where his attitude takes him.
First Aussie was’nt good enough for JP, now WP and South Africa is not good enough… take your bicycle and go boetie, go play mercenary somewhere else.
Tjorts, don’t forget to close the door on the way out!
Old Wynand Meisiekind is a different story, he’s been good at and for the Bulls, but he is well past his prime… new exciting youngsters are edging him out at the Bulls, so it simply makes sense for him to go earn more Euros / Yen / whatever he can get his hands on. Go well Wynand!
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