In a move to replace the soon to be departed Fourie Du Preez, the Bulls have signed the Lions scrumhalf with a contract from the beginning of 2012 until the end of the Currie Cup in 2013.
Vermaak, 26 years old has played for the Lions since his Junior days in 2004, and felt the time was right for a move with the challenges that it presents. He will do battle with Francois Hougaard for the number 9 jersey in Pretoria.
“I felt it was time to make a change. I was with the Lions for a long time and when this offer came along, I knew it the right one at the right time for the right team,” Vermaak said.
Blue Bulls President Barend van Graan expressed his excitement at the signing of Vermaak saying “Jano is world class and will fit in nicely with our Bulls culture as he lives in Pretoria already. We are looking forward to the contributions he will make.”
This signing indicates the seriousness with which the Bulls intend replacing their senior players who are due to move on after the Rugby World Cup, while leaving the Lions decidedly thin on experience at Scrumhalf following the recent departure of Rory Kockett.
Following the announcement of the move, Vermaak has immediately been left out of the MTN Golden Lions team to face the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus Versveld this weekend. He will be replaced by Michael Bondisio.
While I wish Jano all the best for the future, one has to once again question the GLRU’s ability to plan, contract, and look after key players.
With Rory now gone the Doornfontein cupboard is bare in terms of experienced Scrumhahlves!
Eish, ek weet nie meer nie!
Jano has been a great servant of Lions rugby, this move will only see his career flourish even more.
Perhaps now, a springbok selector will look at him?
Great acquisition for the Bulls!
Now the Bulls will have Hougie & Jano… 2 very exciting scrummies!
@ grootblousmile:
More GBS, hoe gaan dit.
Een van my posts het verdwyn, ek het van my selfoon gepost. Ek dink dit het dalk iemand offend, is dit verwyder?
4@ biltongbek:
Hello vrind…
Ek het NIKS verwyder nie…. en ek is die enigste wat verwyder indien dit regtig affronteer.
Plaas dit weer man…. must be the Ghost in the Machine…. hehehe
Al wat ek wel verwyder het is ‘n klomp spam… goed wat blerrie Stokstyfpille en Dingelingvergroters op die site spam…
Excellent signing for the Bulls. It is a pity that none of the SA teams signed Sarel.
“You need to look at the positives in situations like this,” Coach John Mitchell said. “Sure, it’s a blow to lose a player of Jano’s caliber, but now we can look to the future – who at the moment is Michael Bondesio and Rudy Paige, who I see great potential in – and we can start investing in and focusing on them and developing other future scrum halves within the Lions. Jano will still be with the Lions for the rest of the season, but I will use this as an opportunity to develop my future players and utilize Jano in case of injuries.
“To say that we were blindsided by Jano’s decision to leave the Lions would be an understatement, and I can’t say we’re very pleased about the situation, but you can’t retain players if their hearts are elsewhere. I wish Jano success in the future and thank him for his contribution”, Mitchell concluded.
This basically tells me that Jano didn’t exactly act in good faith, but I suppose that whenever anyone decides to change jobs, they don’t normally tell their current employer they are looking elsewhere.
If the stories elsewhere on the web are true, Jano had a clause in his contract that if the Lions ended in the bottom 3 on the Super Rugby log, he could move.
Again I have to question Messrs de Klerk & Reyneke on their contract writing ability and common sense.
Did they honestly believe that the Lions would not end up in the bottom 3? Maybe they have more faith than IQ.
The stadium of the University of Johannesburg received Test status on Friday night with Mauritius and Nigeria taking each other on in a curtain raiser to the club match between the Students and Alberton, which the hosts won 66-14.
Nigeria won 41-22 in this historical test – the 54th in the Lions region.
Go Nigeria. You powerhouse of African Rugby you.
Seriously though, great to see games like this being played ANYWHERE. The exposure to a higher class of Rugby that the Nigerian and Mauritian players must have received whilst in SA must have been a tremendous experience.
I just can’t understand why the game was played in SA though.
Any idea anyone?
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