D-day for Visagie move
2001-08-29 12:34
Cape Town û Cobus Visagie's proposed move to English Premiership side Leeds Tykes will be clarified after a meeting on Thursday between the loose-head prop and the SA Rugby Football Union.
Leeds announced on Tuesday that Visagie would join them next week having signed the burly Springbok prop for the season.
The move has shocked Springbok supporters, as Visagie was the key factor in the Bok tight-five's resurgence during the Tri-Nations series after disappointing performances against France.
Springbok coach Harry Viljoen has built his gameplan around the dominance of the forward pack and without Visagie the steady progress made over the last few weeks will suffer a serious setback.
Rian Oberholzer, SarfuÆs chief executive, told SuperSport Zone on Tuesday that Sarfu was powerless to stop VisagieÆs move, as a contract with the player has not been finalised.
"The player is not at this stage under contract to us so he is free to link up with Leeds if that is what he wishes to do," said Oberholzer.
Visagie should not pack his bags yet though, as it is understood that he has got a contract with Western Province till 2003.
Although Rob Wagner, chief executive of Western Province, didnÆt want to comment on Wednesday until after Thursday's scheduled meeting, he did confirm to Die Burger that Visagie is contracted to Province.
Visagie's position is different from that of Joost van der Westhuizen and Braam van Straaten, both of whom have signed up for British clubs recently and are contracted to Sarfu.
- News24