Strauss becomes second Kings signing
by Brenden Nel 13 September 2012, 16:27
Free State Cheetahs midfielder Andries Strauss has become the second player this week to sign with the Kings franchise ahead of their inclusion in the 2013 Vodacom Super Rugby series.
Earlier this week the Kings signed Sharks lock Steven Sykes for the coming season and they followed it up with the signature of Strauss, who was seemingly unhappy in Bloemfontein.
Strauss, who still had a year to run on his contract with the Cheetahs, after moving there from the Sharks, asked to be released from the contract to take up the offer from the Kings.
The midfielder has been a regular in the Cheetahs' backline but the arrival of Johann Sadie at the end of the season would have made it tougher in terms of competition in the midfield.
The Kings have promised to sign several more top-name players, and may even sign a handful of Argentinean or New Zealand players to bolster their ranks ahead of their one-year entry into the Southern Hemisphere competition.
For the Cheetahs, coach Naka Drotske confirmed Strauss’s departure, but Sadie’s arrival will offset the loss and looks set to form an attacking midfield with Robert Ebersohn.
The Cheetahs have also signed Lions prop Caylib Oosthuizen and the Bulls' Rossouw de Klerk, while they lost the services of WP Nel (Edinburgh), Ashley Johnson (Wasps), George Earle (Scarletts), Marcel van der Merwe (Bulls) and Sias Ebersohn (Western Force) from their Super Rugby squad this year.
