Former Junior Boks captain Riley Norton may be utilised as more than just a lock for the Stormers this season.
According to Rapport, the Cape club is grooming Norton to follow in the footsteps of Bok great Pieter-Steph du Toit and Franco Mostert by becoming a lock who can also dominate at blindside flank.
Director of rugby John Dobson has been regularly deploying Norton at No 7 in training as the Stormers prepare for the new Vodacom URC season.
The idea is to turn the highly-rated youngster into the kind of versatile forward prized by Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.
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At 117kg and 1.99m, Norton has a physical profile similar to Du Toit and Mostert, and shown the work rate required to make the transition.
In his first appearance for the Boks against the Barbarians in June, he played all 80 minutes, carried eight times, completed all 11 of his tackles, and won four lineouts.
A hamstring injury ultimately prevented him from making his Test debut against England at Ellis Park.
Now Dobson is looking to get the 20-year-old back on the field, with Norton in contention to feature in a pre-season warm-up game against the Vodacom Bulls at Faure Street Stadium in Paarl on Friday.
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“We are very happy with where Riley is now,” Dobson told Rapport. “He definitely recovered from his injury quicker than we expected. Credit to him for his work ethic. He is known for that.”
Norton could make his Stormers debut against Connacht in Galway on 25 September.
Photo: @THESTORMERS/X
