SPRINGBOK WORLD CUP winner Steven Kitshoff’s brief stint at Ulster was one of the topics discussed on Rugby Weekly Extra today, the podcast for subscribers to The 42.
Kitshoff has made the final appearance of his short-lived stint at Ulster after suffering a season-ending knee injury.
The loosehead had been set to leave at the end of the season, cutting short his original three-year deal to return to the Stormers after just one season at Ravenhill.
Murray Kinsella, rugby journalist with The 42, said what has happened would probably “make you wary about similar signings” in future.
“In fairness, Kitshoff, I actually think he’s had some really good games for Ulster and I don’t think the problem is him really,” Kinsella said. “I think the problem is Ulster and I don’t know if any big name signing would have cured or fixed their malaise this season.
“I just think it was a tough thing to come in there and make an impact when there were other parts which weren’t working well, and even off the pitch things weren’t going well.
Kinsella added: “No, it hasn’t been a successful signing – it’s patently obvious now he’s gone pretty much straight away. As soon as he signed, as I said, I was excited. Then I heard John Dobson in the South African media – Ulster had announced it as a three-year deal, explicitly as a three-year deal, and I heard John saying he’s signed a two plus one and he basically said, I’m paraphrasing here, he’s coming home after two.
“I thought, ‘Ok so they’ve already got that in their mind, he’s going over there for two seasons and he’s not going to do the optional third year’ – and that I thought was a bit worrying.
“When he played I don’t doubt that he gave absolutely everything he could. He’s probably had a very heavy duty couple of years where he’s just played an awful lot of top-end rugby, travelling a lot as well and sometimes the body struggles with that . . .
“It’s a sad way for it to end, for him to just be heading off without any goodbye or anything like that. I don’t think there was much of a connection built there. Does it make you wary about similar signings? It probably does, especially when you again are being asked to rein in the spending, and that’s a big part of it as well, that they’re happy for him to go after a year and get him off their budget.”
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