Bulls' Van der Merwe off to France

Cape Town - The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd confirmed on Thursday that prop Marcel van der Merwe will join French Top 14 giants Toulon.

Van der Merwe, who has seven Springbok caps to his name, will leave Pretoria at the completion of this year's Vodacom Super Rugby season.

With the Bulls looking like outsiders for the playoffs, Van der Merwe could have as few as three more matches for the Pretoria-based franchise.

Following the mid-year Test break, the Bulls travel to Buenos Aires to face the Jaguares (July 2 at 23:40), before finishing their season with matches against the Sunwolves (July 9 at 17:05 at home) and away to the Cheetahs (July 16 at 19:15).

Van der Merwe was last Saturday named in the SA 'A' squad to play the England Saxons in matches on June 10 (Bloemfontein) and a week later in George.

At Toulon, Van der Merwe will reunite with several compatriots, among others, Bryan Habana, Juan Smith and Duane Vermeulen.