THE DREAM IS ON
Extension to contract will help Pierre’s cause for Scotland
PATIENCE is paying off for Pierre Schoeman after the Edinburgh prop yesterday signed a new contract that keeps him on track to fulfil his dream of playing for Scotland.
When the South African originally joined the capital club back in the summer of 2018, he made clear he was prepared to wait the five years required to qualify through residency.
The SRU hedged their bets by initially giving him a two-year contract after he signed from the Pretoria-based Blue Bulls.
Now, after proving himself time and time again for Edinburgh, they have extended his contract till 2023 and over the residency threshold.
Head coach Richard Cockerill pushed the SRU to find the money to keep Schoeman after he found himself lacking strength in depth at loosehead prop following Allan Dell’s departure to London Irish in the summer.
‘It was an easy decision for me and my wife to stay and one day we may have Scottish-born children, which would be nice for us,’ said Schoeman, who was born in the town of Nelspruit near the Kruger National Park.
‘Maybe one day we will have residency and dual-citizenship of South Africa and Scotland and make it our home in the future.
‘I’m very excited to stay in Edinburgh. It’s been a year and a half since I arrived and I’ve enjoyed it so much. It’s a very professional and hard-working team and I’m incredibly excited for a long future at the club.
‘The environment here brings out the best in me and I can’t wait to continue to do my best for the team.’
The prop made 232 carries in his 31 games since he made his Pro14 debut for Edinburgh against the Ospreys in August, 2018. No other front-row player made more than 160 over the same period. He has also beaten the most defenders (24) and made the second most tackles (221) of any prop in the league during that period.
No wonder a delighted Cockerill said he was confident that, when the time comes, Schoeman would be an important addition to the Scotland squad.
‘Pierre is a very good player and if he was Scottish qualified now, I think he’d certainly be in the mix to play for Scotland,’ said the Englishman. ‘He’ll be available for the next World Cup at least and he is good enough to play international rugby.
‘I am delighted he has signed again as my job is to keep the squad together and keep pushing the national cause as well as my cause for Edinburgh, so hopefully he’ll be here longer than me.
‘Pierre staying shows that we’ve got good players who want to stay and want to be part of the environment that we’re building. We’re two and a bit years into this, so we want to keep building and getting stronger and keeping our depth and so we’re doing everything we can to keep our best players like him.’
Cockerill described Schoeman as the perfect example of a model professional on and off the pitch — and someone the young players in the squad would learn from.
‘The way he goes about his business in training and the way he plays, his durability to turn up every day and train and play whenever you want him to play is as good as anybody,’ said Cockerill. ‘I’ve coached some good looseheads and played with some and he’s as good as any of those.
‘Part of that is his playing skill but his personality is also a big part of it and his work ethic too. He’s just a bloody good man who works really hard and who’s a very good player too so that’s all part of the package we’re getting.
‘He’s got a personality which also helps. He’s very outgoing and he’s good for the culture because he works very hard.’