Rampaging centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg‚ who probably should be in Springbok colours this weekend‚ will instead make his debut for English club Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership.
Janse van Rensburg‚ 23‚ is on a short-term three-month contract at the club after a season that has been plagued by injury‚ which included missing a large portion of Super Rugby due to knee ligament damage.
With three training sessions with his new club‚ he is set to be let loose on Northampton at Sale’s AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday.
Despite only arriving in England last Sunday‚ he immediately linked up with the Sale squad to watch the clash at Leicester and subsequently went straight to work with his new teammates at the Sharks’ Carrington training base this week.
“I am very excited to be here‚” Janse van Rensburg said.
“The guys have been very welcoming to me and they are a really good bunch of blokes and there is a lot of excitement looking forward to the Northampton game.
"I want to enjoy my time while I am here and I want to make sure that everyone will remember me here for the good things.
"I am very excited and I want to help the team grow into a good spot for the rest of the season.”
Sale are struggling in 10th position in the 12-team league having won just two of eight matches so far this season.
Last Saturday’s 35-27 away loss against Leicester was the latest setback.
This weekend’s clash against Northampton represents a good chance for Sale to win number three against a team just two places above them on the standings.
"It’s incredible to see the passion that goes into the games here.
"It was great to see how many supporters come out to back the team when we played at Leicester.
"I thought we did very well last weekend and were just unfortunate with a few things that didn’t go our way‚” Janse van Rensburg said.
“It was great for me to experience the Premiership and to see the passion of it. I felt the guys did really well and we just need to progress from there.
“Tuesday was my first training session and trying to get know our structure and the game-plan.
“The other South African guys at the club are helping me a lot. They have been taking me out into town and showing me a few things that I need to see.
“So far it has been fantastic. It has only been a few days but the weather hasn’t been too bad so I am hoping it stays like this!
"I am staying with Faf de Klerk in the middle of Manchester - it’s a beautiful place to stay and a very busy place‚ and so far I’m really enjoying it.”
He says he is keen to transfer the powerful‚ barnstorming displays that have made him such a stand-out performer in Super Rugby to the Premiership with the Sharks.
“I want to try and give the guys some go-forward ball‚ to get over that gain line a bit more and maybe make a few line-breaks and set up the wings and fullbacks and set them up for tries‚” Janse van Rensburg said.
“Obviously‚ I also want to score a few tries myself while I am here and to try and make a lasting impression.
“I’d already watched a bit of the Premiership back home in South Africa but when I found out there was a chance I could be joining Sale I started watching more of the games.
“Like Super Rugby it is a massive tournament and the passion that goes into it is incredible.”
- TimesLIVE
Source: TMG Digital.
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