John Dobson says Scarra Ntubeni deserves the opportunity to run out in his 100th Stormers appearance in Cape Town after naming the veteran hooker to start against the Sharks. DYLAN JACK reports.
Ntubeni will reach his Stormers milestone in the Vodacom URC coastal derby on Saturday night, having spent the entirety of his professional career in Cape Town.
TEAM: Scarra reaches Stormers century
The 32-year-old was part of a golden generation of Stormers that included Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi, who all debuted around the same time in 2011 and 2012.
While most of those players have moved on, Ntubeni has remained dedicated to the Stormers and will join a pantheon of Cape Town greats, including Jean de Villiers and Andries Bekker.
“It’s impossible to speak highly enough of Scarra. He is probably the ultimate Stormer,” Dobson said.
“His dedication, his personality, what he brings off the field and on the field, I am absolutely thrilled for him. This is the right thing for Scat.
“He is probably the most popular Stormer that I can remember, in terms of how many people and different communities he touches, what he does off the field for so many people. He is just the most extraordinary guy.”
In one of only two changes to the side that beat the Vodacom Bulls, Ntubeni will don the No 2 jersey, with Joseph Dweba dropping out of the matchday-23 entirely.
Ntubeni previously started in the Champions Cup clash with Leicester Tigers and was a try-scorer in his first start of the season the Vodacom URC tour match against Benetton.
“Scat played well at Leicester and did well in Benetton. What I didn’t want, and what I think the group didn’t want, is something to go wrong for Scarra and he finishes on 99, or his 100th is against the Sharks away,” Dobson explained.
“We sort of forced it a little bit, because that guy absolutely deserves to run out for his 100th game at his home ground in front of a nice crowd. If it had been a normal game, we probably wouldn’t have changed the hookers.
“Scarra won’t let us down. It is sentimental, but it’s definitely not to the detriment of the team. He is playing very good rugby.”
Photo: Shaun Roy/Gallo Images