The journey of returning to South Africa is a bittersweet one for the Springbok couple, Handre and his wife Marise Pollard.
After spending nearly half a decade living in Europe they are now faced with the heartbreaking task of saying goodbye to close friends, many of whom they now consider to be family to make their return to Pretoria where Handre is set to re-join his former club the Blue Bulls ahead of the 2025-2026 United Rugby Championship season.
The 31-year-old last represented the Bulls an impressive 72 times between 2013 to 2019, before signing with the French club Montpellier after the 2019 World Cup. For the last three seasons he has called English side Leicester Tigers his new home, and it was here where he and Marise welcomed the birth of their firstborn, Hunter.
Taking to her Instagram stories, the soon-to-be mother of two, opened up about how much she will miss her England home.
“Our last week here, and my heart is heavy. Going to miss our life in Market Harborough so much.”
While goodbyes are never an easy thing to say, the return to South Africa is one that comes along with another joyful chapter.
Just days after celebrating Hunter’s first birthday in April, the couple announced that they were pregnant and expecting a baby girl.
“Our family is growing! Hunter is going to be a big brother and we are beyond excited, God is so good. Our little girl will join us end of October,” they captioned their post at the time.
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