Potgieter on his way back to Bulls

Editor

The Bulls have signed former fly-half Jacques-Louis Potgieter on a two-year deal according to SA media reports.

The Bulls have managed to lure former fly-half Jacques-Louis Potgieter back to Pretoria on a two-year deal according to South African media reports.

The 29-year old went to school in Pretoria and came through the ranks at the Blue Bulls before making his Super Rugby debut for the Bulls in 2007. He is currently plying his trade at Top 14 outfit Bayonne and will move back to Bulls to add to the team's depth ahead of a long and taxing season.

The Pretoria-based outfit have two fly-halves in their squad – Louis Fouche has the inside track for the number 10 jersey, while talented youngster Handre Pollard is widely regarded as the player to take the mantle going forward for the team.

But because the Super Rugby tournament can be a hard learning school, it seems the Bulls have decided that three fly-halves are better than two.

Full-back Jurgen Visser can also cover at fly-half and Tony Jantjies is also on the fringes of the squad, but Potgieter's arrival will add experience and maturity to the position, and create a healthy sense of competition within the squad.

The Bulls have not confirmed the signing, with High Performance Manager Xander Janse van Rensburg telling Supersport that the addition of a third fly-half is “currently just speculation” and “a possibility that we are exploring.”

But sources in France have confirmed that Potgieter has already received permission from Bayonne to move and will arrive in Pretoria on Tuesday to join the Bulls on Wednesday next week.

Potgieter played two seasons of Super Rugby for the Cheetahs before returning to Pretoria in 2010, where he was rotated with Morne Steyn at fly-half.

At the end of that season, Potgieter made a move to the Sharks, where he spent the 2011 season before moving to Bayonne in the second half of the year.