Sharks confirm Eben Etzebeth signing

BusinessLIVE revealed last week that the Sharks were on the cusp of signing Eben Etzebeth, and on Thursday the franchise welcomed the Springbok in a short video montage on Twitter.

Sharks CEO Ed Coetzee said last week that they were negotiating with Etzebeth, but the player’s huge salary and potential transfer fee were stumbling blocks. “His stuff is still a little complicated,” Coetzee said at the time.

Toulon, Etzebeth’s club since 2019, however announced on Sunday that the player was free to leave at the end of the season. Etzebeth’s return to SA is likely to be accompanied by a significant cut in pay.

The former Western Province and Stormers player signed a two-year big bucks deal with Toulon at the end of 2018 before joining them the next year. His contract was quickly extended, but relations between club and player soured in January when Toulon president Bernard Lemaître labelled the lock a handicap, suggesting he is expensive, regularly injured and often on international duty.

The 97-cap Bok played in the Rugby Championship in 2021, and had been sidelined since being concussed for a third time that year at the end of the Springboks’ European tour. He has since returned to fitness.

He should be available for the Sharks after July and will bolster their tight five in the United Rugby Championship.

When Etzebeth left Province for Provence in 2019 the expectation was that were he to return to SA he would likely see out his playing days in Cape Town. Western Province, however, cannot afford a player with his salary demands.

The 30-year-old made 61 appearances for the Stormers between 2012 and 2019 and also had a stint in Japan with NTT Docomo before joining the hugely ambitious French club.

He will now add some much needed mongrel to the Sharks’ second row.