Signings will maintain WP's reputation as a scrum factory

Western Province’s reputation for being a front-row factory that was started when Rassie Erasmus was head professional coach and continued in Gert Smal’s stint as director of rugby looks set to continue into the John Dobson era.

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Veteran hooker Scarra Ntubeni signed a three-year contract extension last week and on Thursday it was confirmed that the promising prop trio of Neethling Fouche, Leon Lyons and Sazi Sandi have all also now signed on the dotted line as Dobson looks to safeguard the Stormers’/WP’s reputation as a team that can invariably rely on strong front foot ball at scrum time.

All three have done well during the Kick Off 2021 preparation games ahead of the new season that will feature a big challenge for all tight forwards as South Africa prepares to step into European competition through the Rainbow Cup.

According to a press release issued by Western Province Professional Rugby, Fouché has signed for two more years after becoming a regular for both the Stormers and WP match day squads. He first made his mark playing for the Maties in the Varsity Cup.

Both Lyons and Sandi come from the Eastern Cape and attended the Western Province Rugby Institute straight after school before going on to represent the Junior Springboks in 2018.

Loosehead Lyons and tighthead Sandi have both broken into the senior squad in the last year, making their respective DHL Stormers and DHL Western Province debuts in 2020.

“All three of these players have stepped up to become important cogs in our squad's engine room and we are looking forward to seeing them develop further over the coming years,” said coach Dobson.

“We have got some incredible front-row talent at our disposal and having Neethling, Leon and Sazi on our books going forward we can expect great things up-front.”

Of course what Dobson was referring to there was the presence of a full Springbok front-row in the form of Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe as a first choice trio.

He mentioned earlier in the week that World Cup winner Malherbe would like to end his career in Cape Town. Although there was a possibility of a six month sabbatical in Japan at some stage, Dobson was confident that Malherbe will remain part of the Stormers/WP mix for the next few years.