SOUTH AFRICAN PLAYER Rohan Janse van Rensburg has been suspended for two games due to signing for both Gloucester and Sale Sharks before joining the latter Premiership club in 2018, the RFU has confirmed.

Van Rensburg has also been fined £32,500 for his actions, with £25,000 of that fine going to Gloucester as repayment for an advance the club paid him before he opted to join Sale.

Sale centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg. Martin Rickett Martin Rickett

Sale Sharks have been handed a deduction of five match points – which is suspended for the two forthcoming seasons – and fined £20,000 for their involvement.

And player agent Matthew Ginvert, who represented van Rensburg, has received a fine of £3,750 and “a reprimand” for his part in the series of events.

Van Rensburg joined Sale in 2018 and remains part of their squad under Steve Diamond. 

An independent disciplinary panel detailed how 25-year-old Rohan Janse van Rensburg had initially signed a three-year contract with Gloucester in October 2017, when he was paid the advance fee of £25,000.

But van Rensburg then signed a three-year contract with Sale in January 2018, following that up by signing a second three-year deal with the Sharks in June 2018.

At the disciplinary hearing, van Rensburg, Sale Sharks and Ginvert all admitted to breaches of RFU rules. 

The dates of van Rensburg’s suspension will be confirmed “when more details of the playing calendar are available,” said the RFU.

Sale’s five-point deduction will remain suspended for the next two seasons as long as the club “does not act in breach of RFU Regulation 7 during that time.”