It isn’t all one-way traffic on the bustling rugby highway these days.

Clement Poitrenaud’s impending move to the Sharks is a glorious exception, helping staunch the belief that it’s better over there.

The French fullback may be in his twilight years, but his role as a player-cum-mentor could be critical for a squad that is both young and ambitious. The Sharks have always led the way in embracing foreign imports, a legacy no doubt of their long-established reputation for being more verlig than most.

Players like New Zealand’s Murray Mexted and Australia’s Tom Lawton were adored in the days of Natal, Federico Mendez made a big impression (for the Sharks and Western Province) and of course the French link is magnifique with Thierry Lacroix, Olivier Roumat and Freddy Michalak all having tasted Currie Cup success. By all accounts, they loved their time in Durban.

Not leaving it there, the Sharks also had John Plumtree, the New Zealander, as coach for five years. The Lions, in turn, had success under another Kiwi, John Mitchell. Laurie Mains also left his mark in Joburg.

Their influence remains.

Many other top foreigners have tried their luck with local teams, including Cowboy Shaw (Northern Transvaal), Todd Clever (Lions), Laurent Cabannes (WP), Fabien Galthie (WP), Tony Brown (WP), Trevor Leota (Cheetahs), Peter Winterbottom (Transvaal) and Chris Butcher (Natal).

South Africa is much richer for the addition of foreigners to our exotic sports potpourri.

Indeed, domestic soccer is awash with foreign coaches, Eastern Europeans turning up with surprising frequency.

There are many players, too. One of the most successful of recent years was Collins Mbesuma, the prolific Zambian who embarrassed local strikers by smashing home 35 goals in the PSL in 2005. Now in his dotage, he remains lethal: turning out for Highlands Park five weeks ago he celebrated scoring his 100^th goal in all PSL competitions.

More’s the pity his habit for goal-poaching hasn’t rubbed off on local strikers. Case in point: the top three PSL goal-scorers going into this weekend were all foreign nationals –  Tendai Ndoro (Zimbabwe), Jeremy Brockie (New Zealand) and Mbesuma (bracketed with a number of others). Plus, the reigning player of the year is Khama Billiat, the Zimbabwe dynamo who plays for Sundowns.

Local soccer has long had a progressive bent towards contracting imports, probably because they show up so well. It’s an attitude helped by the PSL being a solid, well-established league that is superior to many on the continent. There’s also good money to be had for players who straddle the line between European and African standards.

The environment helps, too, so in the case of someone like Mbesuma, who struggled to adapt to conditions in England 10 years ago, he comfortably adapted to the SA way and has since played for six local teams.

Proof of the upside of encouraging foreign influences is also found in cricket where many of the game’s biggest names have cropped up over the years. The late, great Malcolm Marshall ingratiated himself with local fans when he played for Natal for five memorable seasons in the 1990s, as did fearsome Sylvester Clarke up on the Highveld.

More recently, the T20 circus has brought players like Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Sunil Narine and Kieran Pollard into local franchises. No-one pretends they come for anything other than the money, but as the experience of Pietersen showed, he was worth every cent. He belted over 400 runs and was the second-highest run-getter last summer.

Happily, the response to the foreign guard, whether in cricket, soccer or rugby, has always been largely encouraging, probably because the vast majority have made positive contributions. Indeed, someone like Carlos Spencer produced his magic and then took Elton Jantjies under his wing and turned him into a dynamic ball player.

There would doubtless be many more foreigners sniffing out contracts if the Rand wasn’t in such a bad state, making Poitrenaud’s move all the more extraordinary, but for now the steady trickle is more than welcome.

The influence of the foreign guard adds to the rich fabric of local sport and gives it a colour and depth it sorely needs. Long may this tradition last.

Bienvenue, Clement. – © Sunday Tribune