{"id":710347,"date":"2026-07-25T10:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T10:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/710347\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T10:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T10:39:08","slug":"all-blacks-legend-maa-nonu-signs-for-the-sharks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/710347\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks legend Ma’a Nonu signs for the Sharks"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Blacks legend Ma\u2019a Nonu will continue his professional rugby career in Durban after signing a short-term deal with the Sharks<\/a>, the Durban club has confirmed.<\/p>\n

The bombshell comes hot off the back of the double World Cup winner becoming the oldest player to ever feature in the Top 14 and Investec Champions Cup during a successful second spell at RC Toulon.<\/p>\n

The Sharks will be the eighth different professional team that Nonu has represented after playing for Wellington, the Hurricanes, Black Rams Tokyo, Blues, Highlanders, RC Toulon, and San Diego Legion.<\/p>\n

Sources informed Planet Rugby that Nonu was unsure about what the future held before the expiration of his contract at Toulon and spent a couple of weeks back in New Zealand pondering the Sharks\u2019 approach before giving his decision.<\/p>\n

Why the Sharks have signed Ma\u2019a Nonu<\/p>\n

While the Sharks<\/a> have garnered a reputation for signing<\/a> big-name players and Springboks<\/a> on high salaries in recent seasons, Planet Rugby understands that the former All Blacks<\/a> midfielder has agreed to join the Durbanites on a modest salary, with the 44-year-old eager to contribute to the team in a mentorship and leadership capacity in what could be his final professional contract.<\/p>\n

Having put pen to paper on a deal with the side this week, Nonu<\/a> will be tasked with mentoring the young centres and players at the Sharks, particularly Jurenzo Julius and Springboks star Ethan Hooker. It\u2019s a particularly tantalising prospect for Julius, who the Bulls and other South African franchises have reportedly courted. The 22-year-old has struggled to nail down a starting role in the Sharks team due to the strong competition in the position but has featured more regularly since JP Pietersen took over as head coach, with the ex-Springboks winger shifting the exciting talent into the number 12 jersey.<\/p>\n

Julius played mostly at 13 and on the wing under former head coach John Plumtree but impressed in the inside centre role under Pietersen, and Nonu\u2019s arrival could fast-track that development as in his heyday, he was widely regarded as the best in the business. The All Blacks legend famously reinvented himself as an all-court, triple-threat \u2013 run, kick, pass \u2013 centre after being dubbed as a \u2018crash ball number 12\u2019 in his youth, and his short stint at the club and mentorship could be crucial in Julius and even Hooker\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, it is believed that Nonu could go a long way to improving the overall vibe and culture at the Sharks after the franchise conducted a comprehensive and objective review and restructuring of their High Performance System earlier this year.<\/p>\n

That led to the permanent appointment of Pietersen as head coach, with Plumtree officially parting ways with the team, whilst Scott Mathie was recruited to run the team\u2019s attack, Neil Powell moving into the Head of Junior Rugby position, while Dave Williams assumed the newly created General Manager role.<\/p>\n

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

Stuart Barnes makes bold \u2018the end\u2019 prediction for Siya Kolisi regarding Springboks captaincy<\/a><\/p>\n

The rugby-first reasons<\/p>\n

The arrival of the All Blacks legend will certainly be a boost for the marketability of the Sharks and is bound to drive an uptick in ticket sales, particularly after the departure of Siya Kolisi. However, sources informed Planet Rugby that the move was a rugby-first-driven decision aimed at aiding the development of the young backs at the franchise and leaning on his insight into creating a positive culture and setting professional standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpportunities for someone of Ma\u2019a\u2019s calibre to spend time in our environment don\u2019t come around often. While his achievements on field are exceptional, it is his professionalism, leadership and understanding of what it takes to consistently perform at the highest level, that makes this such an exciting opportunity for our club,\u201d Sharks CEO Shaun Bryans said in a statement confirming Nonu\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we continue to build for the future, exposing our environment to world-class performers who have achieved sustained success is invaluable. His presence over the next few months will add significant value to our playing group through the mentorship, standards and rugby knowledge he will share with our team every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head Coach JP Pietersen added: \u201cThe best players don\u2019t just leave memories, they leave standards. That\u2019s what Ma\u2019a brings. Every conversation, every training session and every interaction is an opportunity for our players to learn what excellence looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

While head coach Pietersen was keen to add an internationally experienced fly-half to his ranks before the start of the 2026\/27 season, the market for experienced number 10s has dried up. It had been reported that former Wallabies playmaker Bernard Foley will continue his career past his 36th birthday and rejoin the NSW Waratahs after a successful spell at the Kubota Spears.<\/p>\n

Fellow Australian James O\u2019Connor is reportedly keen on returning Down Under next year in a bid to make the Wallabies\u2019 Rugby World Cup squad and has been in talks with several of the Super Rugby Pacific teams. The 36-year-old was linked with a move to the Sharks, but ultimately nothing materialised.<\/p>\n

Reports in South Africa also linked the Durbanites with moves for Italian international Tommaso Allan \u2013 whose uncle John Allan played over 100 matches for Natal between 1988 and 1997 \u2013 but the Azzurri star will be off to Zebre instead. Irishman Ross Byrne was also linked with the side but is believed to be off to Perpignan, where he will fill Allan\u2019s void.<\/p>\n

The Sharks won\u2019t be short on fly-half options though, with Jordan Hendrikse, Siya Masuku and Vusi Moyo all on the club\u2019s payroll, the latter re-signed through to 2029 in January this year. The Durbanites fought off interest from several South African franchises to retain his services, with the 20-year-old making his debut in the final round of the URC.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

He has since gone on to make his Test debut for the Springboks, starting in the recent 43-0 victory over Wales in the Nations Championship fixture at Kings Park. Rassie Erasmus has also included him in the Springboks squad for the Test match against Argentina and the Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry Series against the All Blacks. It is believed that Nonu\u2019s presence in the backline could help develop and improve the fly-halves too. Moyo\u2019s rise to the international arena further bolsters the Sharks playmaking stocks, which makes the need for another new addition obsolete.<\/p>\n

Winners and losers: Springboks squad in \u2018rude health\u2019 as Rassie Erasmus is bolstered by \u2018world-class\u2019 returnees while Evan Roos is snubbed for All Blacks<\/a><\/p>\n

Nonu\u2019s pedigree and Sharks\u2019 intake<\/p>\n

Despite being well into his 40s now, Nonu continues to perform at a mind-boggling level. During his second and most recent stint at RC Toulon, he played in both the centres and the back-row for the club and helped turn their fortunes around in the Top 14.<\/p>\n

After a poor start to their season, Toulon enjoyed a fine run of form in the latter stages of the campaign to finish ninth overall and reached the semi-finals of the Investec Champions Cup, where they were beaten 29-25 by Leinster.<\/p>\n

Nonu arrives in Durban boasting an incredible CV that includes 103 caps for the All Blacks, two Rugby World Cup titles, 174 Super Rugby caps, and over 400 first-class appearances.<\/p>\n

The centre\u2019s signing with the Sharks adds to what has already been a successful player recruitment for the Durbanites ahead of next season after securing the return of Springboks prop Thomas du Toit. Nemo Roelofse will further strengthen the front row stocks as will the arrival of Junior Boks captain and hooker Siphosethu Mnebelele. Lock Stephen Lewies also returns after a successful stint at Harlequins, where he captained the side to PREM Rugby glory in 2021 with Darrien Lansberg arriving from the Lions too.<\/p>\n

Hendre Stassen has joined the side from Brive while scrum-half Ivan van Zyl has signed from Saracens. Gianni Lombard, Murray Koster and Donnon Don will bolster the backline stocks along with American Dominic Besag.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0Rugby Transfers: Sharks fend off overseas interest for Springboks hopeful, Blues sign ex-Junior All Black and PREM duo bolster ranks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All Blacks legend Ma\u2019a Nonu will continue his professional rugby career in Durban after signing a short-term deal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[348,5218,620,50,5903,5341,4247,101,56,54,16296,55],"class_list":["post-710347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-home-page","tag-ma","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sharks","tag-south-africa","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-rugby-championship","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710347","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=710347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}