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The starting gun has been sounded in the seven-club race that will see Irish giants Munster and Leinster in a toe-to-toe fight to sign highly-rated South African prodigy Josh Neill.
The Rondebosch Boys’ High School and Springbok Under-18 back row, who can play as either a blindside flanker or No. 8, has an Irish passport, which is why the arch-United Rugby Championship rivals are slugging it out for his signature.
Neill has been in superb form for his school and Western Province U18 over the last year, and heads of recruitment from teams across the globe have been beating a path to his door with contracts in hand.
The Rondebosch lineout caller, who has also represented his country at schoolboy level, has got all four of the South African URC sides — the Bulls, the Sharks, the Lions and his home team, the Stormers — chasing him.
Leicester Tigers would like to take him to the Premiership but are considered to be outsiders in the battle because of the interest from the Emerald Isle.
Clips of Neill in action for Rondebosch recently have been attracting hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok, adding to the hype surrounding him that appears to be growing by the week.
The Neill family already have a strong connection with sport in Ireland. His older brother, Jordan, plays cricket for Munster Reds, was part of the Ireland squad for the 2024 U19 World Cup, and is tipped to win full international honours.
A well-placed RugbyPass source in South Africa told us: “Josh is so good and has been incredible at schoolboy level. He has been playing at school level for two years in a row, and as a back-rower, that is crazy rare.
“But in South Africa, we just have so many back-rowers he could easily disappear. We just want freaks and don’t develop talent anywhere near as well as Ireland. I would be confident of him playing for Ireland if he went over.”
