{"id":142224,"date":"2025-09-16T23:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T23:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/142224\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T23:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T23:30:07","slug":"ernst-van-rhyn-explains-contract-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/142224\/","title":{"rendered":"Ernst van Rhyn explains contract decision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Versatile loose forward Ernst van Rhyn<\/a> has committed his long-term future to Sale Sharks<\/a> by signing a three-year contract extension.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old fans\u2019 favourite, who can play in the second row or back row, had one year left on the deal signed when he joined from the Stormers, but he has now extended his stay until June 2029.<\/p>\n

Van Rhyn arrived in Manchester from Cape Town ahead of the 2023\/24 season and made his Sharks debut against Leicester<\/a> Tigers in the Premiership Rugby Cup.<\/p>\n

He has gone on to make 47 appearances for the club, including 24 during the 2024\/25 season, when he started all 18 Gallagher Premiership<\/a> fixtures.<\/p>\n

Since arriving in England, van Rhyn has earned a reputation as one of the Gallagher Premiership\u2019s top tacklers and last season, he topped the league\u2019s dominant tackle count.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife Bianca and I have been really happy ever since we arrived in Manchester. At the time, it felt like the right club and the right city at the right time, and we still feel the same way,\u201d said van Rhyn.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re happy with the position we\u2019re in in our lives, and we thought,\u2019 Why change?\u2019. On and off the field, I\u2019m absolutely loving my time, so it was an easy decision to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we\u2019ve grown as people and for me, that\u2019s translated into my rugby. I think I\u2019ve developed a lot as a player and with the coaches and the team we\u2019ve got here, I know I can keep growing and learning and getting better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had three semi-finals in a row and one final, and I really believe that we\u2019re so close to taking that next step. That\u2019s so exciting. I want to be a part of it when we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson is delighted to have secured the services of the former junior Springbok captain for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a player and a person, Ernie\u2019s boundless work rate is matched only by the attitude he brings to everything he does and the energy that he gives to everyone around him,\u201d Sanderson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOff the field, he is an incredible leader, not just in how he trains and carries himself, but in his words and the way he speaks to people.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the field, he\u2019s a relentlessly physical and extraordinary player who we feel very fortunate to have at the club. We\u2019re so excited that he\u2019s committed his future to the club because we feel he\u2019s only going to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Versatile loose forward Ernst van Rhyn has committed his long-term future to Sale Sharks by signing a three-year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-142224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}