Has Jordan Hendrikse jumped the gun with move to Sharks?

If recent reports are to be believed, rising Lions flyhalf talent Jordan Hendrikse will be departing the union and joining up with the Sharks ahead of the coming franchise season.

If proved true it will be another hammer blow to the Lions as they continue to struggle to keep hold of their best and brightest talents every year.

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However, the move isn’t a major surprise as the 22-year-old Hendrikse was always likely to seek out a bigger union at some stage of his career, but the question has to be asked, has he decided to make the move too soon?

Sharks homecoming

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Hendrikse when he links up with the Sharks as he joins his older brother and Springbok scrumhalf Jaden at the union, with the two Eastern Cape born players having attended Glenwood High School in their youth and played for the Sharks age group teams.

He then had a short stint at Maties in Stellenbosch before linking up with the Lions in 2021, with him managing to raise his profile with a number of sparkling performances over the past few seasons.

In that time he also suffered two serious injuries, a fractured ankle during his first season in the United Rugby Championship, while a serious shoulder injury that required surgery saw his second season in the competition brought to a premature end.

Despite those stumbling blocks Hendrikse has remained the Lions’ first choice flyhalf when fully fit and has continued to impress when given the chance.

Even when the returning Gianni Lombard made a strong start to the past URC season for the Lions and seemed to be favoured as the starting flyhalf, Hendrikse soon worked his way back in as first choice pivot.

Stiff competition

His move to the Sharks now begs the question if he will be able to further his career at the union with some stiff competition in the position.

Curwin Bosch has found some decent form and is the team’s first choice flyhalf, while Boeta Chamberlain is their back-up and the recently signed Siya Masuku will add depth and competition.

While Hendrikse would not have struggled for game time at the Lions, he may find the going tough at the Sharks.

Over the past season two Lions signings had different experiences since joining the Sharks, with loose forward Vincent Tshituka establishing himself as a starter, while prop Carlu Sadie struggled to force his way into the first team and was largely used as a backup and played mostly in the Currie Cup.

Hendrikse is a great talent and should be able to become a first choice starter at a bigger union, but maybe it would have been better for him to get in another good season at the Lions before moving on, instead of having to slug it out against multiple players at the Sharks.