Ernst Van Rhyn

Few forwards in the Sale Sharks pack offer the positional range that Ernst Van Rhyn brings. Born in September 1997 and schooled in South African rugby, he is comfortable operating across both the back row and the second row, giving his coaches valuable latitude in how they assemble their forward unit. Van Rhyn moved to the north-west of England after developing within the South African system, the production line that has long turned out powerful, well-drilled forwards. His strengths are the hard-edged staples of tight play: physicality in contact, robust defensive work and a readiness to do the heavy lifting at the set piece and the breakdown. Equally at home carrying into traffic or contesting the ball on the floor, he provides the industrious presence that English club rugby demands. That ability to cover more than one role makes him a genuinely useful squad asset, whether packing down at lock or adding ballast at blindside flanker. For Sale, he offers dependable, uncompromising forward depth and the kind of physical edge a competitive pack is built around, the sort of player who quietly underpins a unit rather than chasing the headlines. As he continues to accumulate Premiership experience, that versatility keeps him firmly in the selection picture.