Gloucester complete the signing of South African lock Gerbrandt Grobler

After just one season with Munster Rugby, Gerbrandt Grobler will join fellow South African Johann Ackermann's Gloucester next season in the Premiership.

The 26-year old made 11 appearances for Munster during the 2017-18 season and capped off his time with the province by scoring a try in his last game against Leinster last weekend.

Grobler becomes the Cherry & White's fifth signing ahead of next season, following compatriots Franco Marais and Jaco Kriel and England internationals Danny Cipriani and Matt Banahan.

He has previously played for Cape Town-based Western Province and Super Rugby side Stormers in South Africa before spending a season in Paris with Racing 92 in the 2016-17 season.

Grobler will add to Gloucester's second-row options following the departure of former All Black Jeremy Thrush.

Director of Rugby David Humphreys spoke of the news of Grobler’s arrival at the club.

“Over the past couple of seasons, Gerbrandt has developed into a top quality second row and made a big impression during his time at Racing and Munster Rugby. He will bring the benefit of his experience from those top European clubs to Gloucester and his athleticism and skillset are well suited to Gloucester’s style of play.

“We are excited to add another young, dynamic forward to our squad, and he will add a lot of quality and options to our pack.”

Grobler’s signature is one that had been courted across Europe after his form for Racing 92, and then Munster, but the new Cherry and White speaks with a real buzz about coming to play at Kingsholm Stadium.

“Gloucester are a club that are on the up, and I want to be part of something with the same ambitions and goals as me. I want to be part of something that is building, and spend my future here.

“The thing that excites me about this move, is joining a team with big ambitions to improve, to be consistent and build something really successful with the squad.”

And the prospect of working with Head Coach Johan Ackermann is an exciting one for the second row.

“Working with Johan was a huge part of my decision to come to the club, I had a long talk with him once about life and how you take learnings from things. He proved to me there is hope in life.

“You can get into a dark hole, and he convinced me of a good image, and the way he talks about the way of life, people and this appealed massively to me. I can’t wait to get to work.”