The offload that guaranteed ex Wasps star a new club
Burger Odendaal is the latest former Wasps or Worcester Warriors player to be snapped up by a Gallagher Premiership club since they went into administration, with Northampton Saints signing the South African ahead of next season.
Having signed for Wasps last summer, clubs would have only had a few minutes of Premiership action to judge the centre on, but he did enough in that time to convince the Saints. In fact, in the few games he played for Wasps, he showed some real touches of class, none more so than his offload against Bath in September.
Odendaal’s one handed offload to set up a try for Will Porter was as good as any you will see this season. Take a look:
What an offload 😍@BurgerOdendaal with a lovely pass out the back for @12WPorter1 to dive under the posts for @WaspsRugby 🐝
Catch all the highlights from Round 3 on @ITVRugby on Sunday night 📺#BATvWAS | #GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/y0ym2Msa2U
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) September 24, 2022
Just two weeks before that he was showing what a carrier he is as well by tearing through the Gloucester defence at Kingsholm:
Welcome to the #GallagherPrem, Burger Odendaal. pic.twitter.com/TcgqycDmmF
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) September 11, 2022
The centre will have a stint in Japan with Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo before heading to Franklin’s Gardens for next season. Looking ahead to his move, he said: “The last couple of months have been a crazy time for my family and I, but I am very grateful and excited to have the opportunity to come to Northampton Saints,” he said.
“Having spoken to the coaches, I was really impressed by their honesty, and I enjoy the brand of rugby that Northampton plays.
“Throughout my career, I’ve maybe been seen just as someone who can act as a bit of a battering ram in the midfield, but I believe there is a lot more to my game than just taking the ball into contact – I like attacking to space and playing attacking rugby, so it’s exciting for me to join a team like Saints who play in that style already.
“We were just getting used to life in the UK when everything happened with Wasps, and the Premiership from what I experienced so far is a competition filled with great teams, so I’m really looking forward to returning and testing myself in English rugby once again.”
