It’s instructive for the purpose of getting an idea on how long Siyabonga ‘Scarra’ Ntubeni has been playing for the DHL Stormers to think back to the world we lived in back in his debut season.
In 2011 the Springboks were preparing for a World Cup in New Zealand with Peter de Villiers as their coach, Rassie Erasmus had just resigned as Western Province director of rugby, Barack Obama was in the White House and Manchester City hadn’t won a Premier League title since 1968.
We should be saying that he made his Springbok debut two years after that, in 2013, to start a stellar international career, but unfortunately injuries intervened, as they so often did during a marathon one club stint at the union and franchise he moved to after finishing school in Johannesburg in 2009.
A BOK IN THE NICK OF TIME
Ntubeni, now 35, was a youngster back then, but he was homing in on veteran status by the time he eventually got a Bok call in a test match, which was in the World Cup warm-up game against Argentina in Pretoria in 2019.
“There is never a good time for an injury, but mine often came just as I was hitting my stride,” he recalled as he looked ahead towards what is officially designated as his farewell game for the club and union he has served so long as the Stormers face up to Connacht in a 15th-round Vodacom URC game on Saturday.
“Just as I would be starting to play every weekend, and starting to be comfortable playing 60 to 70 minutes, something would happen to rule me out again. It was very frustrating. It meant every time I had to restart and build up my match fitness again and regain my momentum, so it was quite difficult, particularly as there was always someone there to take your place.
“Fortunately I always had good support around me, in the form of the physio, my teammates and my family. The union was very good to me too, standing by me in those times and helping me through. I didn’t play for two years at one point.”
INJURY DIDN’T PREVENT HIM FROM MAKING HIS MARK ON CAPE RUGBY
In Ntubeni’s case there was certainly a career that might have been had it not been for those injuries, but can count himself fortunate to have been able to come back from injury and end up playing 100 games for the Stormers.
Someone like the promising fellow Stormers hooker Ramone Samuels, brother of Damian Willemse, who established himself as a potential future star in 2017/2018, was not so lucky as his career was ended prematurely by injury.
Ntubeni was able to celebrate his 100th cap for the Stormers in a URC game against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in 2023, one of what he considers as three career standouts.
“The 2012 Currie Cup final is one of my three top standouts,” said Ntubeni. “It was the one in Durban where we beat the Sharks. At the time we, WP, hadn’t won the Currie Cup in 11 years. Myself, Kitsie (Steven Kitshoff) and Frans (Malherbe) felt we handled ourselves well against the Sharks front row of Beast (Mtawarira), Bissie (Bismarck) and Jannie du Plessis.
“It was a special moment in my career. We went in as massive underdogs and we still had a lot of doubt in ourselves at halftime in that game. The second highlight is obviously the nine minutes I got against Argentina (to win by solitary Bok cap). By then I had just about given up hope of ever getting onto the field for the Boks. I had done about three or four Bok tours where I just didn’t get onto the field.
“The other highlight was my 100th game in 2023 in the Sharks. It was special and it was great having my son there for the occasion. When it comes to regrets I don’t think you guys have enough space on your cell-phones to record them,” he added with his customary grin.
HEART-FELT TRIBUTE TO FATHER FIGURE CHIPPIE
This Saturday will be a special moment too, with the veteran likely to start on the occasion of his final appearance. Sadly, someone who has been a constant in Ntubeni’s life at the Stormers, the long-serving team manager Chippie Solomon who passed away unexpectedly last week, won’t be there and Ntubeni’s emotion at the absence of the likeable father figure at his farewell game was clear as he spoke to the Cape media about it on the DHL Stadium pitch on Wednesday afternoon.
Instead of Solomon being there to celebrate Ntubeni’s career with him, the manager will sadly be sharing the platform in a sense as there are plans to commemorate both before before the game.
“It was quite weird walking into HPC this week without Chippie being there and no one swearing at us,” said Ntubeni, who hailed initially from East London before finishing his schooling at King Edward.
“The first time I spoke to him was a phone call. He asked ‘Where are you, you motherxxxxx? I said I am in the Eastern Cape. Chippie told me I must get on a bus and come to Cape Town. He picked me up at the station. He was a father to a lot of us. He was vulgar with his mouth, and everyone has stories about him, memories that have been related during the course of this week.
“I still can’t believe it, that he’s no longer here. We used to steal water from his fridge and he’d swear at us, but he was always on hand to give you the best advice. He went through so much at WP and the Stormers.
"He went through unification, the move from Newlands to here. He was here for so long and yet even though he was such a big figure he treated every day as if it was his first in the job. He never took anything for granted, everything on tour always worked with him in charge.”
STILL ON STANDBY TO PLAY AGAIN IF THERE ARE INJURIES
The Connacht game is going to be Ntubeni’s official farewell as director of rugby John Dobson wanted to give him the opportunity to play his last game at home, but there is a chance that he could still get to play again and maybe even go on tour with the Stormers when they end their regular URC season with matches against the Ulster and Cardiff away.
"Dobbo and I had been having a chat from the start of the season about this being the season for me to taper down, and it is nice to play what potentially could be my last game here. I always knew this day would come at some point. It was a tough decision.
"I spoke about it with my family.I am extremely grateful for what I have had here, but I am going to stay in shape just in case something comes my way (before the end of the season).
“I am contracted until the end of the season and if, for instance, two of the hookers go down, then I may be pressed into playing again. I am still part of the squad. But Dobbo wanted to give me one final game at home.”
He deserves it too as one of the dying breed of players who completes an entire career as a one club player.
MASSIVE RESPECT FOR WHAT CONNACHT WILL BRING
Of course, there is a job to be done by Ntubeni on Saturday, and amidst all the emotion of this being his final week and also the mourning of Solomon, the experienced hooker has been swotting up on what he considers a very formidable Connacht team.
“We have done a lot of work on them. They are a PDF team in that they give you the same thing, but we have some plans around that,” he said.
“Last year against them we only won our game against them here in the last minute. In the sense that they had a try after the hooter disallowed. They definitely will not be easy. They have the experience of several Irish internationals returning, and the coaches like Dawie (Snyman) etc have been coming up with some tweaks that we hope will help us deal with them.”
The Stormers team for Saturday’s game will be announced on Friday.