Lions draft in Pumas stars for URC

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The Lions have officially announced the signing of a quartet of Pumas players, including the return of star flyhalf Eddie Fouche, on loan for the inaugural United Rugby Championship campaign.

Following the announcement of their coaching staff shake-up for the first URC tournament last week, the Lions on Monday confirmed that they had signed four players from the Pumas for the tournament.

This includes Pumas captain and lock Pieter Jansen van Vuren, centre Matt More and highly rated loosehead prop Morgan Naude to go with playmaker Fouche.

The 24-year-old Fouche started his career at the Lions in 2019, but after finding regular game time in the No 10 jersey hard to come by, switched to the Pumas.

Since moving to back to his hometown of Mpumalanga, he has kickstarted his career and gained plenty of deserved plaudits for his performances in last year’s Super Rugby Unlocked and this season’s Currie Cup.

Fouche will add more competition in the Lions squad at flyhalf, where the Lions are slightly thin in terms of depth, counting Junior Springbok Jordan Hendrikse, journeyman Fred Zeilinga and currently injured James Mollentze as their three senior options in the position.

Naude (23) and 22-year-old More are rising stars in their respective positions. The latter spent time at the Munster academy, before returning to South Africa and spending a brief period with Western Province.

Van Vuren (30) will add plenty of leadership and guile to the Lions’ second row, as they currently wait on Willem Alberts and Wilhelm van der Sluys to recover from their respective injuries.

Photo: Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images

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Dylan Jack