Brumbies coach Jake White has signed towering South African lock Etienne Oosthuizen as their foreign development player for the next two years.
Oosthuizen, 19, was capped three times for the Golden Lions in 2012 and turned out at schoolboy level for the Springboks.
Though young, he is powerful on the park - packing a hefty 120 kilograms (264 pounds) into his 1.98m frame.
He will take the Brumbies' foreign development spot, vacated by Fijian winger Henry Speight who will be considered an Australian player from 2013.
Under current rules the Brumbies are allowed one developing foreign player, who must never have represented their home country at first-grade level and are prepared to one day play for Australia.
Oosthuizen said he was sad to leave Johannesburg but would relish the chance to train under White and Laurie Fisher.
"As a South African, I realised the chance to move to Australia and join one of the world's best rugby programs was a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Oosthuizen.
"I've followed the Brumbies' development this year and they were one of my favourite teams to watch. I know I can add to their style and look forward to the coaching staff improving my own game at the same time."
Despite dominating the Australian conference for much of the Super 15 season, the Brumbies fell short at the final hurdle, losing to the lower-ranked Auckland Blues in the last round and missing out on the playoffs.
White has already lured injured Wallabies captain David Pocock to the Brumbies for 2013, along with former Australia winger Clyde Rathbone who is eyeing a comeback after chronic injuries saw him retire in 2009.
Comments
jonesrp says...
England a super place to live...? The mind boggles...
Posted 08:05 29th September 2012
Ferdie says...
player development - any? considering they let the young player Edwin Maka, who had gone right through the Aust schoolboy/age group system, head off and now has a 3-year (ie eligible for rwc if good enough) contract in France . . .
overseas scouts - scouring the world for talent it's their job I know, Taranaki's ITM team lost their 2011 Development Player of the Year to Italy, on an offer that was way beyond what any NZ province/franchise could offer, he will of course be in the running for 2015.
Will this recruitment cycle continue? 3-4 yrs before every RWC and raid other country's young talent before they commit to U-20 etc?
Posted 02:45 27th September 2012
Scrumpoacher says...
Grassroots in oz-a shambles/disgrace whatever you want to call it but that is the reason SA lose talent and why we don't have any...ARU please sort it out!
Posted 17:44 26th September 2012
TheTruthHurts says...
This is disappointing for the Saffa's, they have this young guy coming through the ranks with potential and then he gets snapped by an O/S team to develop to become a player for that nation. Like @Tha_Mai says the local players will feel aggrieved by this also, so it's a lose/lose situation for everyone. As an Australian I really am starting to worry about the junior stocks of OZ rugby, are we really losing so many young players to League or AFL? That this is the result? Some serious grassroots development is needed here.....
Posted 15:38 26th September 2012
Trader2 says...
Another nail in Australian Rugby's coffin, another young talented Aussie saying wtf, whats the point I am out of here or let's play something else, this is a sick joke. Can you see the parallels with English football and Oz rugby? Am I overeacting? Does any Oz rugby supporter care? Glad I am an AB supporter but I do dispair for rugby in my place of residence. And please someone tell me Quackey Quade does not earn $750,000 pa as I saw reported today, Jeez I bet Ritchie almost wishes he was born in Dunedoo and not Kurow.
Posted 15:02 26th September 2012
melkdave says...
As ive said before the ARU seems to have failed ,in getting a proper career path up and running.For those australians who want to play union.Theres nothing between junior union teams ,and S15 as far as i know ,thats countrywide,for young players to hone their skills at ,and catch the eye of S15 coaches.I suppose they go straight into the S15 teams acadamies???,if theve managed to catch the eye at a very young age.Just how many late bloomers have slipped though the net i wonder,and now play league instead
Posted 14:15 26th September 2012
tha_mai says...
disappointing in several respects - the development that has gone into this player from SA, that he is prepared to apparently give up on the chance of playing for his own country, and thirdly that Australia's player development program seems focused on getting developed players from overseas - the 2013 (potential) Wallaby George Speight.
19 is young to make this decision - presume they need to sign a player like this early to prevent him being selected for whatever SA's second team is at present (is it Emerging Springboks or the U-20 side?).
Must be disheartening for the local Australian players who go through the grades only to find a foreign player is the chosen one.
Posted 12:39 26th September 2012
APV1 says...
Would the last Junior Bok to leave South Africa please turn out the light..?!
There's a seeming mass-exodus of good and promising players (let's be frank, England have a couple of them) from SA. Why is this?
I know England really is a super place to live, but SA's not that bad is it?
Posted 11:41 26th September 2012