Double Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks prop Steven Kitshoff has not impressed ex-Ireland and Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris during his stint in Northern Ireland.
Ferris believes that the loosehead has been “exposed” during his time in Ulster and has been left disappointed by his impact at the side.
Ulster announced on Friday that Kitshoff would return to the Stormers at the end of the season after just one year in Belfast, despite the Bok signing a three-year deal after the 2023 World Cup.
Leaving Ulster after just one season
As the Stormers secure a fresh private equity investment, Kitshoff is returning to Cape Town, and Ulster is facing financial difficulties and has fired CEO Jonny Petrie and head coach Dan McFarland.
On the field, Ulster has had a difficult season as well. Despite winning seven of their 13 United Rugby Championship (URC) games and placing eighth in the rankings, they were unable to advance past the group stages of the Investec Champions Cup.
Still, Ferris feels Kitshoff hasn’t had much of an effect while he’s been with Ulster.
“I’m sick of talking about the negatives of Ulster rugby; it seems to be never-ending,” he told Balls.ie.
“There were rumours before that Ulster might try get him off the wage bill even though he’s only been in Northern Ireland not even the guts of six months, I believe.
“It’s a weird one because everybody was so excited to get this double World Cup-winning loosehead prop who’s going to bring so much to the table, Ulster were going to leap on and that hasn’t happened. If anything Steven Kitshoff has been dominated in the scrum.”
Kitshoff exposed
The former back-rower added that Ulster’s scrum issues weren’t all Kitshoff’s doing but that he didn’t produce on his pedigree.
“I’m not saying it’s all on him; I mean, he’s been exposed as well, and they’re under a lot of pressure, whether it’s Rob Herring or Tom Stewart scrubbing down beside him as well as Tom O’Toole,” Ferris said in closing.
John Dobson, the director of rugby for the Stormers, expressed his happiness at having Kitshoff return after leading the team to victory in the URC.
He remarked, “We always wanted to get him back, and I am just thrilled that we were able to do it so quickly with the support of our new owners.”
We are excited to have him back in the blue and white for the upcoming season because he is a proud graduate of our program.
