Lions on prowl for Senatla
WHILE the Lions are stalking Seabelo Senatla, the Western Province Rugby Union are confident that they are going to keep the Sevens flyer in the Mother City.
Senatla’s contract with WP is coming to an end in the next couple of months, and director of rugby Gert Smal has been busy negotiating the terms of a new deal with the speedy winger.
WP are apparently also talking to another Sevens star, Tim Agaba, who was recently still on the books of the Eastern Province Kings.
The Lions are currently on a bit of a hunt for players, especially black players, after their run-on team towards the end of their Super Rugby campaign only featured three black players in the starting line-up. It is believed that they are trying to lure Senatla to Johannesburg.
Senatla hasn’t featured a lot for the Stormers over the last few years, because of his Sevens commitments.
He still has a contract with SA Rugby for the next two years, but may only play in selected tournaments in the build-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which would allow him to play a lot more Super Rugby matches.
“We are confident that we can keep him.
“We will announce everything soon, because we can’t say anything if we don’t have pen on paper. But the negotiations are at an advanced stage,” Smal said.
“He is still contracted with SA Rugby and the Sevens. It’s up to the Sevens guys to decide how they are going to use him in the future.”
Senatla and fullback Cheslin Kolbe returned to WP’s Bellville training base yesterday for injury assessments after winning the bronze medal with the Blitzboks at the Rio Olympics.
Kolbe is believed to have a bit of a calf niggle, but could be back for WP soon.
However, Senatla, could be out for the rest of the season after he fractured his right wrist in the quarter-final victory over Australia.
But his injury could be a blessing in terms of the Welkom-born star getting a bit of a break after a couple of years of non-stop rugby.
“I reckon I might be out for around two months. It takes about six weeks for a fracture to heal properly. Then it takes two weeks to do rehab on it,” Senatla said.
“Some people say it’s a blessing in disguise, because I have played a lot of rugby over the last two years.
“I would still love to play for Province in the Currie Cup, and maybe I can still play a part towards the end of the season.
“But I think the break is going to do me good, rather than bad.”
Senatla was again the Blitzboks’ go-to man in Rio, and he was sorely missed in their semi-final match against Great Britain, which South Africa lost 7-5.
Senatla, though, has no regrets and says the Sevens tournament was a hit in the football mad country.
“It was something out of this world. The village, the athletes ... it was just great. The people of Rio also made it very special, they really contributed to the vibe. It was such an awesome experience for us,” he said.
“The people were buzzing and I met a lot of people who haven’t experienced rugby before, but fell in love with the sport at the Olympics.”
Because Senatla didn’t finish the tournament, he didn’t get a bronze medal.
His replacement Francois Hougaard , who played in the semi and the bronze-medal match against Japan was handed a medal instead.
However, the Springbok scrumhalf decided to give the medal to Senatla, and left it in the speedster’s room when he left early to report to the Springbok camp.
“Hougie, what a guy!” Senatla said.
“I believed that he deserved it as much as I did.
“Because I was injured, the rule was always going to be the person who comes in must gets the medal. He also worked for it.
“In the end he left the medal in my room and left for the Springboks. I have it now. It was such a great gesture from him.”