As every human knows, time flies by incredibly quickly but not enough to make one of the most memorable incidents of Brok Harris’s early career as a DHL Stormer to feel, as the old saying goes, like it was just yesterday.
It was towards the end of a tight game against the Brumbies when a youthful Harris popped up as first receiver and then threw an intercept pass that effectively enabled the visitors to clinch the game.
Those who didn’t understand that props were indeed part of the attacking structures in the modern version of the sport vilified the product of Hoërskool Bastion in Krugersdorp and Potchefstroom University for that.
Stormers head coach John Dobson will tell you that his late father Paul, a highly respected referee and rugby man, was one of those who didn’t understand why the stocky recruit from the North-West thought he was a flyhalf.
Harris, now 40 years of age and just over a week into his retirement from the game following what he describes as the first knee injury of his career sustained in the recent big win over Benetton at the DHL Stadium, referenced that “intercept I gave away at Newlands” as one of the abiding memories of a career which ended up going on much longer than he intended it to.
HE STARTED OUT IN A DIFFERENT TIME
A measure of how long Harris played for Western Province is that it was 2006 and Carel du Plessis would still have been the Currie Cup coach, with Gert Smal having handed over the Stormers reins to a combination of the late Kobus van der Merwe and Gary Gold just before that.
Nick Mallett was the WP Director of Rugby, and it was a year before Rassie Erasmus and his sidekick Jacques Nienaber arrived in Cape Town from Bloemfontein to guide the Stormers and WP fortunes.
Future Bok captain Jean de Villiers was still a relatively young puppy back then, and Schalk Burger was in his pomp.
Luke Watson was providing the media with controversy to drive interest in their publications and websites and was also a way above average scavenger for the loose ball off the side of the scrum.
They weren’t exactly the halcyon days of WP and Stormers rugby because they never won anything, but they were exacting times and, win or lose, the Stormers always seemed to be at the forefront of the consciousness of the Cape sporting public.
Super Rugby was the bread and butter competition and if the modern players think they have it tough with travel, they should listen to Harris relating the experience of his first tour with the Stormers.
“My first Super Rugby tour stands out as a career highlight,” said Harris in his final media call as a Stormers player on Wednesday.
“We were away for five weeks. We spent two weeks in New Zealand and then we spent two weeks in Australia, then we went back across to New Zealand to play the Crusaders in Christchurch. It was unbelievable.”
CAME BACK FOR SEVEN GAMES AND PLAYED 77
That is unbelievable if you think about it, but not more unbelievable than the Harris journey after he returned to Cape Town after his seven-year stint with the Dragons, for whom he earned 143 caps and was considered a legend by supporters of the Welsh regional team, in 2021.
“When I returned I had 93 Stormers caps and my dream was just to play seven more times for them to get to a hundred caps,” recalls Harris.
“My main mission was to go into coaching, I wasn’t intending playing on for very long. I got to my 100 and now I have ended on 170, something that I would never have foreseen. It has been unbelievable being back here playing for the Stormers again. There was no pressure for me to play, I wanted to coach. That was the best thing. I didn’t feel I had to show anyone anything as a player or to prove myself, so I just went out to play with the guys and I really enjoyed it.”
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) May 7, 2025
Last season, the last before he was due to turn 40, was meant to be Harris’s last as a player, but it didn’t turn out that way.
“I didn’t expect to play another season, I was ready to go into coaching. But we spoke about and there were youngsters coming through (that needed guidance) and then there was the unfortunate injury that ended Kitsie’s (Steven Kitshoff’s) career, and also an injury to Frans (Malherbe), so I decided to play on as it felt like the team needed me.
“I enjoyed playing on Saturdays. That was the easy part. Training was the tough part. The double sessions, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. Those were what taxed my body, which I could feel wasn’t getting any younger. I always knew this would be my last season. It was my intention to retire at the end of it.
“So the last six months was unbelievable. There was no pressure. I knew it was my last season. As I say, my body felt it a bit. It was unfortunate that I wasn’t able to see out the season and retire then as I intended, and it would have been nice to play against my old teammates from the Dragons on Saturday.
“The funny thing was that I was joking with someone before the Benetton game that I had never had a knee injury in my career. I’d had ankle injuries and shoulder injuries. So finish off with a knee injury was not ideal. But I was privileged to be uninjured for most of my career. So I have no regrets.”
KNEW IT WAS OVER WHEN HE HEARD THE POPPING SOUND
The likeable Harris says he knew his career was over the moment the injury happened.
“I knew immediately. I heard the popping sound and even though I had never had a knee injury before, I knew straight away what it was and what it signified. It felt like jelly, my leg felt very loose,” he recalls.
“The team doctor came onto the field and said they would have to take me off in a cart. I said no way, I wasn’t going to make my final exit from the field as a Stormers player in that way. If this is my last game, then I am going to walk off. But I did wonder if I had made the right decision initially as everything felt like jelly and it wasn’t easy to walk.”
Harris added that his daughter must have had a premonition as she’d sent him a letter before the game wishing him “strength for your final game”.
Harris won’t be facing the Dragons on Saturday but DHL Stadium fans will get a chance to say goodbye.
“It is interesting that this happened before a game against my old teammates. It feels like a circle has been completed. This is an important game for us (the Stormers) and it will be great to see the guys at the weekend.”
On Saturday we will say farewell to a DHL Stormers great. Join us for a special send-off before we face the only other team he ever played for @dragonsrfc
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) May 7, 2025
🎟️ Get your tickets here https://t.co/zaZJN2PvTe#STOvDRA #iamastormer #brok pic.twitter.com/aRCkmILJlS
COACHING CAREER ALREADY UP AND RUNNING
Harris’s playing career might be over but his coaching career is already in full swing.
“At the moment I am working with the young bucks (WP under-20 team) as the scrum consultant and that is keeping me busy. Giving back to the game is very important to me. I have wanted to coach since I was at university. I would like to coach, wherever it is, although as a loyal kind of guy I would like it to be at the Stormers slash Springboks. The key thing is just to try and pass on my knowledge to people who are younger than me. I walked a hard path in the beginning and would like to make it easier for those who follow that path now after me.”
The now ex-prop quipped that he would liked to have scored more tries in his career, although for a prop he did score quite a few - he managed to get over the line 15 times in his 120 games for Western Province and 10 times in his first career that spanned 93 games for the Stormers, and three tries for the Dragons.
He was a much less frequent try scorer in the last part of his career, which was possibly an acknowledgement that Father Time stands still for no man.
“I was fortunate enough to have long careers in the top competitions in both the northern and southern hemispheres,” he said when reflecting back on his career highlights.
“My first Currie Cup title win was achieved at the Sharks Tank in 2012. That was an unbelievable and unforgettable experience. What will always also stand out was playing that Super Rugby final (against the Bulls) at the Orlando Stadium (in 2010). You could say that was both the high point and low point of my career because it was great being there but we fell short in our quest to win the trophy, so it was a case of so near and yet so far.”
IT ENDED ON A POSITIVE NOTE
Harris did contribute handsomely to the Stormers’ success in the inaugural URC season in 2021/2022, both as a player and as a scrum strategist, so he was part of the franchise’s first success in an overseas competition.
But, almost typically of a prop, it was the people he has met and the friends he has made that have been the most rewarding aspect of his long career that spanned 20 seasons and, if you add up the games played for WP, Stormers and the Dragons, saw him take the field a whopping 433 times.
“There have been so many memories and people, overseas players I got to know too. Real rugby people. What I will miss is having a beer with guys I played both with and against after a hard game, that was always special. But will still be in rugby as my coaching career is only just beginning so it won’t be the end for me.
“Knowing I am ending my career as a player means the past few days have been a hard time for me, but it has also been nice. I always try to be a guy people respect and I try to be humble so the messages I have received and the support I have been given has been very heart warming. I feel like I am leaving the game on a positive note, not a negative one.”