The Blue Bulls’ Springbok center JJ Engelbrecht, will no longer return to Loftus Versfeld at the end of the Japanese season to play in the Super Rugby tournament.

The Blue Bulls Company (BBC) confirmed his release to one of the top clubs in Wales, Ospreys, this morning.

Engelbrecht, who played 65 times in the Bulls jersey since joining the team in 2012, was due to link up with his Pretoria team mates upon returning from Japan, where he is playing for Toyota Industries Shuttles.

The Ospreys offer resulted in a release request by Engelbrecht, which has been granted by the BBC with immediate effect.

According to the BBC High Performance Manager, Xander Janse van Rensburg, the decision to release Engelbrecht was based on the depth they have in the midfield, where the likes of Jesse Kriel, Dan Kriel, Burger Odendaal, Jan Serfontein and Dries Swanepoel will be contesting starting spots.

“We decided to release JJ as we have good depth in the outside backs. We want to thank him for his contributions on and off the field over the last couple of seasons. He will be a massive asset to Ospreys no doubt,” Janse van Rensburg said.

Engelbrecht scored 45 points in his 65 appearances and also scored five test tries in 12 appearances for the Springboks.