Springboks prop Steven Kitshoff’s departure ‘makes sense’ for Ulster
Steven Kitshoff looks set to return to South Africa next season.
Springboks prop Steven Kitshoff looks set to leave Ulster after just one season, and former Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman believes that it could be a good thing for the Irish province.
Kitshoff arrived at Ulster after the Springboks’ title-winning 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign and quickly settled in, making eight appearances in the United Rugby Championship and featuring in the Champions Cup for the side.
However, the double World Cup-winning prop has now been linked with a return to South Africa to rejoin the Stormers after a huge cash injection from Western Province Rugby Football Union’s new equity partner, Red Disa.
While the Stormers have a new equity partner, Ulster are dealing with financial constraints and posted losses of more than £900,000 last season.
This was one of the factors in CEO Jonny Petrie’s departure, with several players also set to leave the side at the end of the season, including Billy Burns, who will join rivals Munster.
Kitshoff rumours are “not surprising”
While Kitshoff’s departure would be a blow to Ulster’s playing stocks, Jackman believes that it could work in the Irish province’s favour even if he isn’t one of the players they would have been looking at cutting.
“He [Kitshoff] wasn’t originally one of the fellas that they were looking at cutting to get back on balance, and I still would like to hope that the IRFU could find a little bit of money for Ulster, so that they don’t have to be as severe in their cutbacks as they were planning for under Dan [McFarland],” Jackman said on the RTE Rugby podcast.
“Maybe that’s part of the reason [Jonny] Petrie is leaving as well, obviously there was some conflict over budget.
“The Kisthoff rumour that he is going back to the Stormers is not surprising, really. The people who signed him are gone [Petrie and McFarland], that’s one part of it and he has done a stint in Bordeaux before, the Stormers have a new consortium – partly Irish-owned.
“He could play with a very strong team, be back living in the Cape and he is obviously still very much part of the South African international team. So I think it makes sense for him and it actually makes sense for Ulster as well.”
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Spending in the right places
Jackman adds that perhaps a loosehead prop is not the best position to fill with a non-Irish-qualified player and while ex-head coach Dan McFarland may have felt that it was, the incoming new head coach may not agree.
“On paper, he is a great signing, but I don’t think a loosehead prop is necessarily where you want to use your foreign player spots when things are tight [financially],” Jackman continued.
“Certainly, when you compare it to Ruan Pienaar and Marcell Coetzee, the influence they were able to have on Ulster, it’s very hard for Steven Kitshoff to have that; he is a very good player but a very good player particularly when he’s part of the team like South Africa, who have lots of other fellas who can have big moments.
“I think it makes sense for him [to go back], it makes sense for Ulster as well and it’s just a case of the new coach and him being able to decide where not only where he wants to spend that money but also how he wants to fill that non-Irish qualified player spot.
“It could be a really nice surprise for a new coach to have that flexibility in one position at least.”
Meanwhile, Iain Henderson spoke highly of Kitshoff ahead of Ulster’s Challenge Cup clash with Montpellier.
“He’s been brilliant for us,” Henderson said. “He’s been brilliant for a lot of young lads in that scrum environment around the park.
“He’s been filling the boots that he’s put on the international field before.”
