Mujati commits to Saints
14 Dec 2010
Former Springbok prop Brian Mujati has signed a new contract with English club Northampton Saints.
The 26-year-old Mujati has been at the club for two seasons now, having left the Stormers after the 2009 Super 14. He’s produced a consistent showing this year, and has become a favourite with the locals.
The decision to move to England robbed him of the right to represent the Springboks given their policy on overseas-based players. But Mujati feels he’s made the right decision, and is delighted to have signed on with Saints for another term.
‘I’ve been made to feel very welcome by everyone at the club and in the town,’ he said. ‘I’m certainly happy to sign on again with the Saints. We have had some success but we’re still improving as a squad and I’m sure that there will be more to come in the near future.’
31 Comments
14 Dec 2010, 09:37 am
dammit…i was so hoping he would be lured back …playing well by all accounts…kept the legendary Euan Murray on the bench.
14 Dec 2010, 09:38 am
Should’ve kept him at Province.
14 Dec 2010, 09:44 am
@grant10 : YOH
blast from the freekin past
welcome back Grant
14 Dec 2010, 09:48 am
@Papoose : ta mate
14 Dec 2010, 10:14 am
@grant10 : so y the sabattical then?
Smit was out
Bissie was doing crazy things
would’ve expected you to be here 24/7 with GLEE
14 Dec 2010, 10:44 am
‘kept the legendary Euan Murray on the bench’
Not only that, Murray left Saints last week with immediate effect after losing his starting spot.
Also, Mujati it still on a Zim passport – will Stofile allow him to play for Boks again? Without a doubt he has improved tenfold since he left SA.
14 Dec 2010, 10:52 am
@gecko : stofile is no longer the minister of sport and the rules of the country say he has to be a citizen of south africa to be able to play for the Springboks. so no he can’t play!
14 Dec 2010, 11:57 am
actually SA must catch a wake up, zim or SA, whats the bladdy difference? hell NZ have half of polynesia in their side, england and oz and france, the rest of the world. Mujati has come on leaps and bounds and is perfect. Just imagine the Bok RWC squad with a power TH option to back up the more mobile ones. I mean Euean Murray is a monstrous TH.
14 Dec 2010, 12:02 pm
@cab : well then cab, why doesn’t pdv tell andy marinos that he has mujati as part of his plans and then marinos must actually earn his salary by contacting mujati and telling him to apply for saffa citizenship at home affairs so that by the time the world cup comes along in september everything is in place for mujati to play for the Springboks!
There are no exceptional rules for Springboks when it comes to immigration in this country!
14 Dec 2010, 12:08 pm
@Transformation :
which is exactly what they should be doing if they serious about the RWC.
we dont know whose going to get injured in the build-up to the RWC next year and we are drastically short of worldclass THs, he should come back to SA for 2011 and then if he wants to return to northampton after the RWC.
14 Dec 2010, 12:12 pm
marinos or whoever is the oke responsible, should try contact mujati and northampton and ask them to put the contract extension on hold for a year, cos he is needed for SAs RWC preparations. Brian can then play in SA in 2011 (being ready for the RWC) and still return to northampton at the end of the year for their season. I cant understand why players of this caliber and who playing so well are looked over.
14 Dec 2010, 12:15 pm
Brian must come back to the Lions for 2011 under John Mitchell.
Heinke, Maku and Mujat – holy **** i think we’ll win it.
14 Dec 2010, 12:20 pm
@cab : exactly, jannie dup is going to pull a peopstring and then pdv will want to pick mujati and the next thing everyone is going to be shouting down the government throat to expedite mujati’s application when this whole thing can be done now! no foresight at SARU, hoskins will be begging mbalula & khompela for leniency, watch this space
14 Dec 2010, 13:04 pm
Mujati’s wife is English, so maybe he has longterm plans in UK. Probably get a Brit passport before an SA one.
14 Dec 2010, 13:12 pm
@gecko : well he can kiss international rugby goodbye then…
14 Dec 2010, 13:22 pm
yoh i dont fancy the prospect of sheridan and mujati in the same frontrow for england.
14 Dec 2010, 13:25 pm
@Transformation : If by ‘International Career’ you mean playing this disgraceful game under PDV and co then he’s better off missing out.
14 Dec 2010, 13:35 pm
@cab : He can’t play for England. He is now bound to SA. Money wise he is doing well in UK. If he has no real bond with SA, why would he go back to play for Boks?
14 Dec 2010, 13:50 pm
@goyougoodthing2 : bwahahaha you must be one of the people nama was talking about yesterday HAHA
mujati is only 26 and if he is cool with never playing for the Bokke again, then so be it.
14 Dec 2010, 13:54 pm
@Transformation : Never saw yesterday
he he he… just fishing, as usual
14 Dec 2010, 15:06 pm
Euan Murray was kept on the bench and left club coz of his choice not to play on sundays on religious grounds not that he lost form however mujati been playing good but murray would have started if he dint have that policy
14 Dec 2010, 15:43 pm
Been watching him week in and week out as I live right opposite the Saints home ground and have to say he’s been playing some great rugby for them of late. They do rotate him but he’s proving very consistant now. Together with Hartley and Tonga’uiha they make a killer front row!
The Saints as a team have immproved massively over the last 2 years and are one of the best in the premiership so it’s a good thing to be apart of right now.
14 Dec 2010, 16:18 pm
@kace : Not quite. Murray hardly started a game this year. His Sunday choice didn’t help, but he has been 2nd choice behind Mujati all season.
14 Dec 2010, 18:48 pm
I read that Euan Murray has made arrangements to leave Saints.
14 Dec 2010, 19:11 pm
@daydreamer :
I’m not sure where Murray’s going or how he’s going to maintain a career in the NH by not playing on a Sunday. Maybe he’s just packing it in? Which is a real shame because he is no doubt one of the best TH’s in the world and probably the only world class player Scotland has.
But this is typical of a few areas in Scotland, especially the north west and islands. Very religious areas, you can’t even hang your washing out on a Sunday in some of them.
It wasn’t so long ago a ferry ran for the first time on a Sunday to one of the bigger islands (can’t remember it’s name). The islanders were up in arms but of course no one was there to protest when it arrived and the embarking passengers had to walk to where they were going
14 Dec 2010, 21:05 pm
Jannie Du Plessis and BJ Botha are in the Bok pecking order before Mujati.
14 Dec 2010, 21:38 pm
Mujati absolutely pasted Gethin Jenkins the past weekend. It was a terrific scrummaging performance and he is in the form of his life, would be a terrific addition to the Bok bench.
15 Dec 2010, 00:34 am
@sandeno :
Ye have to agree. The guys has improved significantly at Saints
15 Dec 2010, 17:37 pm
Brian Mujati has laways made a career based decision before anything(some mercenary-like) but thats his right
-He moved to SA from Zim to further his rugby career in JHB after being spotted in Craven Week(Peterhouse old-boy).Played junior & senior rugby & develped into something of a specimen
-Moved to WP/Stormers(under a cloud to say the least),was the best SA tighthead in Super14 2008,became a Bok(to up his dollars reputation-wise..A Bok cap=overseas transfer always possible)…Was with his English wife already at the time
-In 2009 left Stormers after a subpar season,joined Saints on a decent deal(Bok status)
-2010-decent amount od games for Saints,English-wife,Euan Murray gone,no real ties to SA…..Re-sign contract.
Simple.
All to better his life/career.
Has never spoken ill of Boks,nor coach no unions nor country.
No beef with his decision.
15 Dec 2010, 17:41 pm
The Saints loosehead-Tongan Soane Tonga’uiha is a phenominal athlete as well.(looks like a prop version of Lomu)
Cult-figure there
17 Dec 2010, 02:21 am
@mshiniwami : agree, yet sadly he hardly has any caps for Tonga.
@kace : there’s no way to say for certain, I’ve never really watched him closely enough to make an informed decision Murray has a reputation of being able to scrummage and offer not a great deal else. Mujati probably offers a better balance between scrummaging and work around the field. Not certain he’s the answer to SA’s tighthead conundrum, in my opinion PDV should give Beast or Steenkamp a run at 3, having two world class looseheads doesn’t make a great deal of sense if one of them has to drop out of the squad due to an inability to cover tighthead from the bench.
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