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Cape Town - The Stormers and Western Province are not interested in signing Bulls discard Rudy Paige, WP president Thelo Wakefield has stressed.
READ: Bulls name co-captains for Super Rugby
The Springbok scrumhalf was a shock omission when Bulls coach John Mitchell named his Super Rugby squad earlier in the week.
Ivan van Zyl, Andre Warner and Embrose Papier was named as the Bulls scrumhalves with no spot in the 38-man squad for the 28-year-old Paige, who boasts 13 Test caps.
With Paige out in the wilderness, it raised questions whether some of the country’s other Super Rugby franchises would be interested.
The Stormers, however, have made it clear they aren’t.
“What message would that send to the young players. We have several scrumhalves in Jano Vermaak, Dewaldt Duvenage and youngsters like Justin Phillips, Paul de Wet and Herschel Jantjies. We’re not eager to prevent them from getting game time,” Wakefield told Netwerk24.
“We’re spending a lot of money to develop players and it will be a waste if we target players from outside. There is also a good group of under-19 players in our (rugby) institute.”
The Bulls head honcho explained his decision to not include Paige.
"He has been fantastic for the club. He's made it his life in recent years and has given a lot, but I just thought it was time to move forward with the young No 9s. I like a very fast No 9 and certainly all the No 9s that we've selected have that ability."
