{"id":823505,"date":"2026-07-25T19:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T19:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/823505\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T19:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T19:23:09","slug":"its-not-april-fans-react-to-all-blacks-legend-maa-nonus-sharks-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/823505\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It\u2019s not April!’ – Fans react to All Blacks legend Ma’a Nonu’s Sharks switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Blacks legend Ma\u2019a Nonu has signed a short-term deal to join the Sharks<\/a>; here\u2019s how the rugby public reacted to the news from Durban.<\/p>\n

A true great of the game, Nonu will take his expertise and over 20 years of experience to Durban, where he will perform a leadership and mentorship role to help develop the young talents in KwaZulu-Natal.<\/p>\n

Following the announcement of the 103 Test cap centre\u2019s signing, we take a look at how social media reacted to the news of the double World Cup-winner\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n

Reaction to Ma\u2019a Nonu signing for the Sharks<\/p>\n

We start with X, formerly Twitter, where the news was greeted rather positively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sharks<\/a> signing Ma\u2019a Nonu<\/a> in a mentorship role is an incredible move for Jurenzo Julius. I cannot think of anyone better to work with him to fast-track his development. Definitely someone to keep an eye on in the URC now,\u201d Alten du Plessis wrote.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Angus Usher highlighted the experience the 44-year-old New Zealander will bring with the centre making his professional debut before two of the Sharks\u2019 star centres were even born.<\/p>\n

His post read: \u201cA 21-year-old Ma\u2019a Nonu made his All Black<\/a> debut in June 2003. He will now be mentoring and playing alongside two exciting young centre prospects in Jurenzo Julius and Ethan Hooker.<\/p>\n

Julius was born in May 2004
Hooker was born in Jan 2003\u2033<\/p>\n

Former Melbourne Rebels and Western Force head coach Dave Wessels said it\u2019s a nice change of pace to have Nonu on South Africa\u2019s side now.<\/p>\n

\u201cOke is older than me! Terrorised us in Super Rugby for years. Nice to have him on our side of the fence,\u201d the SA Rugby General Manager remarked.<\/p>\n

All Blacks legend Ma\u2019a Nonu makes bombshell South African move, signing for the Sharks<\/a><\/p>\n

Play him against the All Blacks<\/p>\n

Many hope that the midfielder would turn out for the Sharks when they host the All Blacks at Kings Park during the Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry Tour of South Africa, with the two teams set to collide on August 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould play him against the All Blacks purely for the vibes,\u201d Jordan Patu wrote, with journalist Jamie Wall writing: \u201cIf Nonu plays for the Sharks against the All Blacks they should roll out Tony Brown as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMa\u2019a Nonu joining the Sharks, had to check the calendar to make sure it\u2019s not April,\u201d the Dummy Switch Pod\u2019s post added, while Brendon Wessels hailed the decision from the Durbanites.<\/p>\n

\u201cShrewd move in my opinion. Nonu must have some of the best rugby IP in the world,\u201d his post read.<\/p>\n

Ex-All Black picks out his Nations Championship stars as South African \u2018gazelle\u2019 praised while surprise New Zealand selection \u2018rises to the challenge\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Moving onto Instagram, many of the fans were also excited by the signing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo way, my Goat is coming to Durban,\u201d @bavela_jiji\u2019s comment on the Sharks\u2019 post read.<\/p>\n

A Stormers fan said that they \u2018were scared\u2019 of the prospect of Andre Esterhuizen and Nonu combining in the centres against the Cape Town franchise.<\/p>\n

Others weren\u2019t convinced that the news was real.<\/p>\n

\u201cI seriously thought this was AI,\u201d @Sasol027 wrote and they weren\u2019t alone in thinking as much with many comments reading along the same lines.<\/p>\n

@vuyo.ntabeni_9 was blown away by the fact that Nonu is continuing his career after he wasn\u2019t offered a contract extension at French club RC Toulon.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow this guy\u2019s still playing is beyond comprehension; he retired from test rugby more than 10 years ago and is still playing,\u201d Ntabeni wrote.<\/p>\n

Ma\u2019a Nonu: All Blacks legend reveals why he has signed for the Sharks<\/a><\/p>\n

Humorous reactions<\/p>\n

The positive reactions continued on the Sharks\u2019 Facebook page, where fans also expressed their delight and overall excitement.<\/p>\n

\u201cNonu was a legend on the field. He will be great in teaching the young Sharks,\u201d John Hopkins wrote, Zane Moolman adding: \u201cJurenzo Julius being mentored by the great Nonu. This will be epic!\u201d<\/p>\n

Whilst the reactions were mostly positive, Facebook did produce some detractors and comical comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre they getting him at a pensioner\u2019s discount?\u201d Simon Jangle III wrote in reply to Planet Rugby\u2019s post.<\/p>\n

\u201cSigning a 45-year-old. Well done Sharks. I heard Matfield also wanna return. Can the Sharks buy him as well?\u201d another joked.<\/p>\n

\u201cMa\u2019a Nonu wants to play rugby until he reaches 50 years to retire is not in his DNA,\u201d Vuyani Monelo added.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0\u2018I would have given a red card\u2019 \u2013 Nigel Owens believes All Blacks star was \u2018very lucky\u2019 not to be sent off against Ireland<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All Blacks legend Ma\u2019a Nonu has signed a short-term deal to join the Sharks; here\u2019s how the rugby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,818,200,44,760,1042,85,134441],"class_list":["post-823505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-home-page","tag-ma","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sharks","tag-sports","tag-united-rugby-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}