SALE Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson is delighted to have secured the services of Ernst van Rhyn from the start of next season.
The Stormers second/back row has signed a three-year contract and Sanderson detailed how the move came about and why he was so keen to sign van Rhyn.
He said: "We found during the back-half of the Premiership Rugby Cup games that maybe the young players coming through need a bit longer than what we thought at the start of the season.
"At that point in time we were lacking the depth in physicality that our game model relies on.
"You look at Saracens who are top of the pile, they have got four international locks Itoje, Tizard, McFarland and Isiekwe. How do we stack up against that? We probably need some more strength in depth.
"We looked for locks last summer and we got Jonny Hill who was not a bad scoop! But there wasn't a lot out there.
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