SA's URC pre-season starts: How has each franchise's business gone to date?

With a first fully-fledged pre-season underway again for the first time in almost three years, South Africa's United Rugby Championship (URC) franchises will arguably be even more bullish about building on a promising platform from last season.

As a result, the teams' spending for 2022/23 - to date - has been relatively measured, with the exception of the Sharks, who've made some statement signings to kick-start the Neil Powell era.

Almost appropriately, the differing circumstances of each team is vividly reflected in its recruitment.

Sport24 has a look.

SHARKS: Superstars for a Superstar brand

Incoming players: Eben Etzebeth (Toulon), Rohan Janse van Rensburg (Sale), Vince Tshituka (Lions), Carlu Sadie (Lions), Lionel Cronje (Toyota Verblitz)

                                                                           Eben Etzebeth. (Getty)

The Sharks was the first local team to fully embrace brand value at the start of the professional era in the 1990s, a tradition they've kept intact for decades.

Armed with an ambitious majority shareholder in MVM Holdings, the Durban-based franchise very clearly divided their recruitment  strategy - which has to take salary cap restrictions into account - into phases.

Siya Kolisi was always going to be a package deal given MVM's association with Roc Nation and he was joined by Bongi Mbonambi in sprinkling Springbok pedigree over the group of forwards.

For the upcoming season, they've continued to follow that philosophy, though, in this context, they've identified key areas that need reinforcement.

Eben Etzebeth's class is obvious while touring Bok Rohan Janse van Rensburg arguably provides the punch in midfield that went missing since the departure of Andre Esterhuizen and could be a decent yin