Duncan departs Cheetahs
May 28 2008
The Cheetahs' stock of locks is wearing thin after Rory Duncan agreed to a two-year contract with Japanese club Yahama and join up with ex-All Black captain Reuben Thorne.
The stand-in captain's timing couldn't have been worse after fellow lock Barend Pieterse announced that he will be hanging up his boots at the end of the season.
Duncan led the Cheetahs to Currie Cup glory last year, while he also captained the Super 14 team this year when regular skipper Juan Smith was injured.
"It's going to be a bit different playing there [Japan], but it's a great opportunity," Duncan told Die Burger newspaper.
"It was a difficult decision and the temptation to stay for the Currie Cup season was huge after last year's success.
"And after a reasonably disappointing Super 14 campaign, you want to end to leave on a high."
Duncan also had offers to go to the Northampton Saints and Glasgow Warriors, but had his reasons for deciding on Japan.
"I played a couple of years in Scotland a while ago and this opportunity will be much different to that," said Duncan.
"Financially it is also better in Japan. To be honest I have never watched a game of Japanese club rugby on video, but I've read a lot about the league and spoke to a few guys about the rugby.
"It's apparently slightly quicker than what we play over here, so again, it'll be something new."