Africa-Press – South-Africa. Stormers stalwart Scarra Ntubeni is set to touch grass in a United Rugby Championship (URC) match for the first time since injuring his Achilles in last year’s clash with Glasgow Warriors in April.
Ntubeni made the match 23 for the Stormers trip to the Kingspan Stadium to face Ulster on Friday night (21:35).
The one-time Springbok hooker went down in the 49th-minute of a comfortable Stormers victory that was soured by his injury.
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But Ntubeni, whom head coach John Dobson described as “an incredibly popular” member of the Stormers cloakroom, didn’t let the disappointment of missing out on his team’s championship-winning run get him down.
In fact, Ntubeni was seen on crutches celebrating and singing with as much vigour as his sweat-drenched teammates when they first beat Ulster in the semi-finals before undoing the Bulls in the final.
Dobson admitted he was worried that another arduous recovery process for the 31-year-old might prove a bridge too far but Ntubeni, like he’s done countless times, has fought back.
“Scarra has had his fair share of knocks over his career injury wise but he’s an incredibly popular member of the team and technically a really good hooker,” Dobson said.
“He’s throwing and scrumming is amongst the best we’ve got. I’m pleased that he’s getting back on the field.
“I was worried that, at 31 years old, he may think that another long-term rehab process might be too much for him.
“But he’s really hungry. He’s played one Test, against Argentina before the 2019 World Cup, and I just want Scarra to have a good, injury-free two or three years and see what that spits out for him.
“Because it’s hard to think of a more popular team guy. He’s a tough and good hooker.
“Now we’ve got a fantastic hooker roster once Scarra gets that box ticked. It’s going to create some selection headaches but we’re thrilled to have him back.”
A month after the Stormers won the inaugural URC, Ntubeni told News24 about the disappointment of missing out on their historic achievement.
“It was emotional for me. You work so hard and you play to feature in finals,” Ntubeni said at the time.
“And to then not be in the final, it was a bit emotional but the team was much bigger than how I was feeling.”
Ntubeni has had six major surgeries in his career since making his Stormers debut in 2011: both his Achilles, his left hamstring, right knee, hernia and shoulder.
Stormers
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Cornel Smit, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Marvin Orie (captain), 4 Ben-Jason Dixon, 3 Brok Harris, 2 JJ Kotze, Ali Vermaak
Substitutes: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Kade Wolhuter, 23 Juan de Jongh
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