All Blacks star interested in sabbatical in South Africa
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Sabbatical.
All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot has opened the door to a potential stint in South Africa after revealing he would consider spending a sabbatical in the country.
The 28-year-old recently committed his long-term future to New Zealand Rugby, signing a new deal through to the end of 2029.
However, de Groot has admitted the prospect of spending a season abroad could appeal to him further down the line, with South Africa emerging as one of his preferred destinations.
“I’d like to just be able to be a one-club man and maybe do a sabbatical if I looked to do another World Cup, maybe,” de Groot told the New Zealand Herald.
“I could probably see myself doing a sabbatical over here potentially, do a full year of scrumming over here, learn a few things into the next World Cup.”
South Africa’s renowned scrummaging culture is a major part of the attraction for the 43-cap All Black, who also identified France as another potential destination.
“South Africa, France, either one of those sort of countries, I probably wouldn’t get a lot going out of Japan,” he said.
“I think just the sheer size of some of these blokes getting around and they’re a scrumming nation, they hang their head on that and it’d just be cool to see how they operate.”
Any potential move remains some way off, with de Groot making it clear that his immediate future is firmly in New Zealand.
His new contract takes him through the 2027 Rugby World Cup and all the way to the end of 2029, with the British & Irish Lions also set to tour New Zealand that year.
