Janse van Rensburg’s Sale Sharks journey begins

Editor

Rohan Janse van Rensburg has revealed he’s excited to start his Sale career and could make his debut against Northampton on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Springbok centre arrived in England last Sunday and immediately linked up with the Sale squad to watch the clash at Leicester. He has begun training with his new team-mates at the Sharks’ Carrington training base this week.

He is also hoping to aid the club’s drive for success over the next few months during his loan spell.

“I am very excited to be here. 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,” Janse van Rensburg told Sale’s website.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

Janse van Rensburg is regarded as one of the most exciting young centres in Super Rugby and was a key factor in the Lions reaching both the 2016 and 2017 Super Rugby finals.

And he says he is keen to bring similar performances 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 full-backs and set them up for tries,” he added.

“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.

“I’ve come from the summer in South Africa to the winter here in Manchester but, hopefully, I can warm everybody up with the way I play!”