LONDON Irish lock Franco van der Merwe believes the tidal wave of South Africans flooding into the Premiership is set to continue, with cash not the only driving factor.
With top Boks Lood de Jager, Rob Du Preez and Jaco Taute among those swelling the ranks next season, no fewer than 43 South Africans will be playing for Premiership clubs.
In fact, post-Rugby World Cup it will be possible to name a Premiership starting XV of Springboks who would give most international teams a serious run for their money.
Premiership wages are a significant attraction, but second row enforcer van der Merwe insists that the competitive nature of English rugby also comes into the equation.
Van der Merwe, who joined Irish in 2017, told The Rugby Paper: “There are a lot of guys coming here now and our second game against Sale next season is going to feel like a South African derby for me with the number of Saffas they've signed.
“It's pretty exciting and the challenge to play in the Premiership is still growing.
“Look, you can't deny money is a big factor in that, but the Premiership is also one of the best competitions in the world now; it's tough, it's quite a long competition and anything can happen, and that's what appeals to our guys.
“We saw it last season with a team like Newcastle going from making the playoffs one year to being relegated the next, while others shot up from near the bottom into the top six, so the challenge up here is a pretty exciting one.”
Van der Merwe added: “Predominantly it's South African forwards who love to carry the ball hard and play a bit closer off their No.9 and 10.
“It suits their style and English clubs have signed some great players in guys like Lood de Jager. From an England perspective you still want your local players coming through but it's a very attractive place for South Africans now.”
Meanwhile, van der Merwe believes London Irish will be better prepared for the Premiership than when he arrived two years ago.
Just as now the Exiles had emerged from the Championship with high hopes; instead, they plunged straight back down. He said: “We had a brilliant start against Harlequins in 2017/18 – a London derby – and thought we were in for a great season, but we lost momentum and got into a negative state of mind where you're just thinking about survival.
“The biggest thing I learnt from that is you can't just survive in the Premiership; you've got to play with an attacking mindset.
“You need to be adaptable as well so your main drivers need to be good in terms of decision making. When do you kick? When do you run? When do you pass? It's also important that we develop a new identity in how we play.
“We've got so many new players coming in that we need to have a game plan to accommodate them, but there's been a big shift in the way we train, the way we're preparing for the Premiership and we're excited about that.”
At 36, van der Merwe had considered retirement.
Instead, he has not ruled out continuing beyond next season.
He added: “There are so many exciting things happening at London Irish I'm just going to see how the season goes.
PREMIERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA SELECT TEAM 2019/20
1. Coenie Oosthuizen (Sale, 30 caps)
2. Akker van der Merwe (Sale, 3 caps)
3. Vincent Koch (Saracens, 14 caps)
4. Franco Mostert (Gloucester, 29 caps)
5. Lood de Jager (Sale, 39 caps)
6. Francois Louw (Bath, 66 caps)
7. Heinrich Brussow (Northampton, 23 caps)
8. Nizaam Carr (Wasps, 5 caps)
9. Faf De Klerk (Sale, 21 caps)
10. Rob du Preez (Sale, 1 cap)
11. Travis Ismael (Leicester, 1 cap)
12. Francois Venter (Worcester, 7 caps)
13. Juan de Jongh (Wasps, 19 caps)
14. Francois Hougaard (Worcester, 46 caps)
15. Jaco Taute (Leicester, 3 caps)
BENCH:
16. Ashley Johnson (Wasps, 3 caps), Francois van Wyk (Northampton, uncapped), Pat Cilliers (London Irish, 6 caps), Franco van der Merwe (London Irish, 1 cap), Jaco Kriel (Gloucester, 11 caps), Cobus Reinach (Northampton, 11 caps), EW Viljoen (Leicester, uncapped), Scott van Breda (Worcester, uncapped)
TOTAL – 339 CAPS (Yesterday's Test v NZ not included)
