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Pretoria - The Blue Bulls confirmed on Tuesday that they had released two of their stars ahead of the upcoming Currie Cup season.
Springbok scrumhalf Heini Adams will be moving to Pro2 Division club Bordeaux in France, while fullback Tiger Mangweni has been released early from his contract to play for Eastern Province in the Currie Cup this season.
Adams, who has two caps for the Springboks in midweek games on last year’s tour of England, has played second-fiddle to Fourie du Preez for most of his career and didn’t have the best of Super 14 seasons this year.
With young star Francois Hougaard coming through and likely to move back from wing to scrumhalf in the Currie Cup, Adams days in the side were always numbered, and a move was in the offing for a while now.
Veteran Mangweni has been one of the unsung heroes of the Vodacom Cup victory and despite his lack of pace, has played exceptionally well since joining the Bulls. His only Super 14 appearance was in the second string side loss against the Stormers in Cape Town, where he was one of the players to stand out.
While the Bulls may have enough scrumhalf talent to replace Adams, it will be interesting to see what they will do in Mangweni’s absence.
Zane Kirchner is likely to be part of the Springbok Tri-Nations group and therefore won’t get much Currie Cup game time.
Veteran Jaco van der Westhuyzen is likely to take the starting spot for the Currie Cup, but other than winger Sello Mametsa, who has played at fullback before, there are not a lot of fullback options available.
