Kok departure offset by trio of arrivals at Sharks

There has been a bit of a revolving door in both directions at the Hollywoodbets Sharks in the past few weeks, with the latest player heading through the departure lounge at the end of the season being former Blitzbok star Werner Kok.

The wing is set to join Ulster at the end of the current season, with the announcement being made by Ulster late on Wednesday. Other players leaving or who have already left are Rohan Janse van Rensburg, with the centre negotiating an early release a few weeks ago to join the Japanese club, Canon Eagles, while Le Roux Roets, the former Pumas lock, announced as a new Sale Sharks signing for next season.

While Kok in particular will be missed as he has delivered a high work rate since specialising on the wing in the past two seasons, and has played most of the Sharks games this season bringing his caps for the franchise to 55, the departures are off-set by some high octane arrivals.

The trio of new signings is arguably headed by Andre Esterhuizen, the big centre that left a massive hole to fill when it came to giving his team go forward when he left to take up a contract with the English club, Harlequins, in 2020. Esterhuizen was sought after by other South African franchises, in particular the DHL Stormers, but is understood to have opted to return to his former home base.

Sharks coach John Plumtree already has two Springbok tightheads on his books in the form of Vincent Koch and the veteran Coenie Oosthuizen, but this season has shown him the value of depth, with another recent World Cup winner, Trevor Nyakane, announced this week as a new signing who will add to the front row resources at the Durban franchise.

The other Bok headed for Durban is former Vodacom Bulls second row forward Jason Jenkins, currently with Ulster.