Fourie confirmed that he managed to contract the hard-working loose forward George Cronjé from Clermont in France, and the big and powerful winger, Marcell Muller, from Montpellier.

The pair who matriculated from Grey College last year were part of the 1st VX which has been unbeaten since 2017.

Fourie has his sights on another member of that team, Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

The former SA Schools player was a teammate of Cronjé at Clermont, and Fourie confirmed to OFM Sport that he has tabled an offer to the impressive front-rower.

He does, however, doubt that he will be able to land the signature of the player who is on the radar of just about every union in South Africa and is also enjoying the attention of teams abroad.

“I have also made an offer to Jan-Hendrik Wessels but he might go to the Bulls or somewhere else. He hasn’t committed yet, but I think that he will be lost to us.

Fourie added that he has extended offers to players in the current Grey team and his plan is to start reigniting the culture of the local players moving on to represent the Free State and the Cheetahs.

“There are a few of the current Grey boys that we have tried to recruit. There are offers out to some of them and we have to maybe recruit one or two more in the current team.

“That is the way that I want to forward, to show them that we are really interested in them and we would like them to stay at the Cheetahs and not to go away to the other unions.

“I want the youngsters that are able to play for the Cheetahs when they are 20-21 years old. It is not always possible in all of the positions, especially in the front-row or the tight-five it might be difficult.

“The loosies and the backs who have enough talent and work hard will be able to play for us at a young age. Sias and Robert Ebersohn, Johan Goosen, Lappies Labuschagne, Phillip van der Walt, Lionel Mapoe and guys like that did it.

“We are looking to do that again and breed our own players who can come through our ranks. We are hoping that this is only the start and that all talented boys in Bloem will follow.”

Cronjé and Muller will report from duty at the Cheetahs on 1 July along with another Grey old boy and former Montpellier player, the two-time World Cup-winning Springbok, Frans Steyn.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport