South Africa

The New England Free Jacks have signed South African center Wayne van der Bank from the Pumas. With the contract running for five years through the 2026 Major League Rugby season, it’s the longest player deal publicly disclosed in the league to date. It could see the 24-year-old USA-qualified in …

JP Smith has departed the LA Giltinis after one season. The 31-year-old loosehead prop has signed a two-year deal with the Lions in the newly-created United Rugby Championship. Jean-Pierre leaves Major League Rugby with just one ‘JP Smith’, the other being the Seattle Seawolves scrumhalf. A dominant figure in both …

Carlo de Nysschen has re-joined the Dallas Jackals for their inaugural Major League Rugby campaign. It’s the second take for both the South African-born US-eligible scrumhalf with the expansion side, having signed with the club ahead of the 2021 season before the Jackals opted to withdraw. The 25-year-old subsequently signed …

Robbie Petzer has bid farewell to Rugby ATL and Major League Rugby. The 25-year-old flyhalf or center has signed a two-year deal with the Pumas to compete in South Africa’s Currie Cup. He leaves ATL after just one season of a long-term deal signed earlier in 2021. A standout in …

New England Free Jacks hooker Pieter Jansen has signed a short-term contract with the Tel Aviv Heat. The 26-year-old South African will play in the pool stage of the Rugby Europe Super Cup before returning to the Free Jacks for the 2022 Major League Rugby season. Jansen joined from the …

South Africa made it a clean sweep of the shortened 2021 World Sevens Series as they completed a perfect run in Edmonton to take their second tournament in as many weeks. Great Britain were their opponents in the Cup Final this time but the Blitzboks were simply too strong with …

Germany produced the upset of the tournament with a stunning 19-10 win over Great Britain on the opening day of the Edmonton Sevens. South Africa continue to set the pace while the USA enjoyed an unbeaten start with three wins to top Pool B. The physicality of Damian McGrath’s Wolfpack …

Final rosters for the first ever World Sevens Series event in Edmonton have been confirmed. The tournament takes place over Saturday and Sunday with 12 Men’s teams competing in three pools. A round-robin exhibition format will be used for the four Women’s teams. A number of changes have been made …

Johan Momsen will be staying on with Rugby ATL. The South African second row has signed a new three-year deal with the Eastern Conference Champions that keeps him at the Snake Pit through the end of the 2024 Major League Rugby season. After impressing in the truncated 2020 campaign, Momsen …

South Africa cruised to a dominant Cup Final victory at the World Sevens Series event in Vancouver on Sunday. The 38-5 win over Kenya capped an unbeaten run through the tournament with the Blitzboks running up a points total of 238 for and only 43 against. The USA were the …