London Irish have made their 10th signing of the summer already by confirming the arrival of Ruan Botha from the Sharks. 

The South African second-row, who has 64 Super Rugby appearances to his name as well as experience captaining the Sharks, joins on an initial six-month contract in which he will act as cover during the Rugby World Cup.

Once the six-months are up he will link-up with Japanese Top League side Kubota Spears before re-joining the Exiles for pre-season in June 2020 and preparing for the 2020/21 season.

Speaking ahead of the move the 27-year-old talked of how he delighted to be joining the club at a time when they are set to return to the Premiership.

“London Irish is entering an exciting period in its history and I am immensely proud to be joining at such an important time as they return to the Premiership. I look forward to meeting up with my teammates for pre-season,” he said.

Meanwhile, London Irish director of rugby Declan Kidney is looking forward to the multiple qualities the massive lock brings with him.

“Ruan being available during the Rugby World Cup period is a major boost to us. He has a lot of top-class rugby experience and will also bring a lot more to the squad in terms of his leadership qualities,” he said.

Botha becomes the latest in a long list of stars to join the English outfit with Allan Dell, Adam Coleman, Sekope Kepu, Paddy Jackson, Sean O’Brien, Nick Phipps, Curtis Rona, Waisake Naholo and Will Goodrick-Clarke all signed up over the past few weeks. The club will be hoping that their good transfer work works a treat as they look to stay up upon their return to the top-tier.

Leicester are reportedly set to secure the signing of South African forward Hanro Liebenberg from the Bulls. 

South African outlet Rapport claim that the 23-year-old former South African U20 captain has already signed the dotted line to move to the Tigers.

The back-rower who can also cover the second-row if needed, suffered a ruptured a small intestine a couple of years ago and it had been feared that it could end his promising career early.

However, after two successful operations he has recover and thankfully rediscovered his fine form from before the injury.

As well as being one of the brightest prospects in South Africa, Liebenberg is piped to be one of the future stars of southern hemisphere rugby and would be a major coup for the English side.

Coming off their poorest season in the professional era where they finished a disappointing 11th following a 32-31 loss to Bath in their final game of the Premiership season, the club has started a massive rebuilding project.

With that in mind they have already signed Jordan Taufua, Tomas Lavanini, Jaco Tuate, Noel Reid and Nephi Leatigaga while also recalling former academy graduates Calum Green and Charlie Clare.

The capture of Liebenberg would add to their push for next season as they hope to stay as far away from the regulation zone of the Premiership table as possible.

Former Scotland international and current Harlequins winger Tim Visser will close the curtain on his career at the end of the season at just 31. 

Known as “The Flying Dutchman” having been found in his native Netherlands playing sevens rugby, Visser joined Harlequins in 2015 from Edinburgh and has made 66 appearances for the club.

Visser has thanked Harlequins for his chance to play for them but is looking forward to settling down with his family.

“I’d like to thank everyone at Harlequins for the opportunity to be part of such a fantastic club. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I feel now is the time for me to move on to new challenges outside of rugby with my young family. I’m looking forward to trying and proving myself in a completely different career,” he said.

The winger played for Scotland 33 times scoring 14 tries and Harlequins boss Paul Gustard paid tribute to his impressive career.

“Tim has enjoyed an exceptional career and has been a fantastic servant over the past three seasons here at Harlequins. I have thoroughly enjoyed his company and have always respected his commitment, attitude and humour since I joined the club last July. He is an immensely valued and very popular member of the squad whom we will miss. We all wish him and his family the very best as he embarks on a new adventure,” he said.

Visser started his career in the UK with Newcastle Falcons before his move to Edinburgh and then Quins. He also represented Scotland at the 2015 World Cup and scored against the USA in the pool stages and will be remembered fondly among fans of the game.