Aviva Premiership

Bulls and Springboks flanker Jacques Potgieter is on the verge of joining Saracens, according to the Rugby Paper.

The flanker played a starring role in the Bulls' Super Rugby semi-final defeat to the Brumbies and had previously agreed to a six-month sabbatical in Japan where he will run out for Fukuoka Sanix Blues. But rather than go back to the Bulls, where he was contracted to until 2015, reports suggest he will journey to Saracens and link-up with the big-spending Aviva Premiership side in 2014.

"Jacques is the ultimate flanker," Bulls high performance manager Xander Janse van Rensburg told the Rugby Paper. "He is a magnificent athlete who is big and a very strong ball carrier, he's a world-class player no doubt about it. And on top of that he is a fighter, he loves the physical stuff and is not afraid to get his hands dirty and do the smaller things.

"Saracens will suit him down to the ground, I have been to Saracens and experienced the environment they are creating. It will fit him like a glove, it's almost a home away from home considering how much Afrikaans you can hear about the place."