By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@BackpagePix.
The Sharks have officially announced the signing of Aphiwe Dyantyi as the Springbok will make his return to professional rugby after completing a four-year ban.
The 28-year-old played 13 Tests for the Springboks between 2018 and 2019 before his career was halted by a four-year doping ban.
Dyantyi was banned after failing to prove that he had inadvertently ingested the performance-enhancing substances methandienone, methyltestosterone and LGD-4033.
The Sharks recently appointed ex-All Blacks assistant John Plumtree as their head coach, with Neil Powell stepping back into his director of rugby role, and they have now bolstered their squad with the intriguing signing of Dyantyi.
Under a club social media message titled: “It’s official, welcome Aphiwe Dyantyi to our Sharks family”, the South African recorded a 24-second audio clip where he thanked the Sharks for giving him his chance.
“More than anything I am just excited to be back, and I just trust that everyone around is as excited as I am to see what I can do,” said Dyantyi. “I only promise to give my best for the jersey.
“I have been now in Durban for quite some time, and I have kind of seen what the Sharks mean to the people. I want to contribute to that, and I have seen the pride that the people have, and I would like to honour that in all that I do and the fans to see that reflected in what I do on the field.”
It was in February last year, two and a half years into his ban for testing positive for two anabolic steroids and selective androgen receptor modulator usage, when Dyantyi told his social media followers that he would be targeting a return to rugby when he became free to play again in August 2023.