Double World Cup winner Bongi Mbonambi’s return to the DHL Stormers will not just be excellent news for the Cape club but also to Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus, who was unable to judge the hooker’s suitability for the national squad due to his spat with his soon to be former club.
It is understood that Mbonambi is leaving the Hollywoodbets Sharks with immediate effect, something the Sharks have been working towards getting right for the past few months, and is set to return to his old home in Cape Town this week to answer the Stormers’ calls in a time a of crisis at hooker.
Mbonambi, who like a lot of the World Cup winners from Japan in 2019 and France in 2023 is the wrong side of 30, had lost condition over the past few years and it was former Hollywoodbets Sharks coach John Plumtree, when he was still in his position as head coach, who first read Mbonambi the riot act.
When Mbonambi said he wanted to play at another World Cup, and cited the longevity of players like Jesse Kriel, Plumtree pointed out Kriel’s work ethic and athleticism and told Mbonambi that he would require a similar attitude if he is to continue playing and performing at the top level.
SHARKS COACH JP WAS RIGHT TO PLAY HARD BALL
Apparently Mbomambi took that to heart and according to members of the Bok camp he had worked hard on his conditioning, and trimmed down considerably, before a pre-season disciplinary infraction at a Sharks training camp led to him being disciplined by the Sharks and effectively suspended.
The Sharks were right to play hard-ball with Mbonambi and new head coach JP Pietersen is to be lauded for the stance that effectively saw the Sharks seek to end Mbonambi’s contract. It is understood that Mbonambi had been considered to be a problem within the Sharks’ culture for a while, and the Sharks are a club that has had to work hard on getting its culture right.
The Stormers, where Mbonambi is expected to join this week, have no such problems. They have pre-existing culture that Mbonambi will walk back into and with the currently unavailable Andre-Hugo Venter, who’s availability for Saturday’s Vodacom URC clash with Ulster is subject to a test this week but is considered unlikely to play, and the suspended JJ Kotze also on the Stormers’ books he will know he won’t be considered indispensable to Stormers plans when those players are available again in December.
In short, he should know he won’t be able to walk back into his former club, who he last played for in 2021, with a super-ego. Stormers director of rugby John Dobson has worked with him before and knows how to get the best out of him, and like a lot of players who have worked with the popular Stormers mentor and then left, they would have stayed in contact in the time Mbonambi has been away.
IMMEDIATE VALUE TO STORMERS IS OBVIOUS
Mbonambi’s immediate value to the Stormers is obvious - Venter (elbow) is unlikely to play against Ulster, Kotze is out and so is Lukhanyo Vokozelo, who went off in the second half and failed his HIA test in the game against Scarlets. Springbok Deon Fourie, who came on as a loose-forward against Scarlets, can of course also play hooker, where he has moonlighted on several occasions for the national team, but he is out with a hamstring injury.
It would seem unlikely that Mbonambi would walk back into the team this week, but if he has continued training on his own in the time he was suspended from the Sharks he might still be a better bet than veteran Scarra Ntubeni, who made the news on Tuesday by being called out of retirement to help the Stormers through their period of crisis.
Stormers skills coach Labeeb Levy was on media duty on Tuesday and when pressed on Ntubeni’s conditioning his response was that it could be better. Which of course is understandable given that Ntubeni was officially in retirement this past weekend and would not have expected to be propelled back into Stormers training.
Altus Rabe is another hooker who has been added to the Stormers group, but it should not be forgotten that although he experienced a nightmare evening with his lineout throwing in difficult conditions in Edinburgh earlier this month, Vernon Paulo would not have been recruited from the Toyota Cheetahs last year if the Stormers did not consider him a good player.
Every player has a blow out every now and then and Paulo was good in the win over Connacht that preceded the Edinburgh game. He should be backed to redeem himself if he is given a chance to start against Ulster, with one of the other players, including even Mbonambi, filling a bench position.
BOK BACK-UP TO MARX IS NOT SETTLED
Why Mbonambi’s return to playing at the Stormers and a possible rejuvenation to his career will be welcomed by the Bok coach Erasmus is because the position of back up hooker to Malcolm Marx still hasn’t been settled in the buildup to next year’s World Cup.
Jan-Hendrik Wessels or even the Sharks’ Junior Bok captain Esethu Mneblele may be fair bets for the next World Cup cycle that starts in 2028, but provided Mbonambi can regain his old form and drive, which of course is not a given, then his wealth of experience could prove invaluable in Australia this time next year.
Fourie has been the go-too back up hooker when the Boks have been at full strength in recent times but he will be 41 this time next year and it is unlikely he’d be backed as a starting hooker were first choice Marx injured, like he was for the business end of the last World Cup. Fourie played off the bench in the World Cup final against New Zealand, and was on the field from the third minute, but Mbonambi started the key games.
He was once described by his Bok and now former Sharks teammate Eben Etzebeth as the best scrumming hooker in the world and that is a reason why the prospect of him returning to the Stormers is a particularly enticing one. The Stormers already have a potent scrum.
As it stands, Mbonambi should be considered highly unlikely to play this week, so his likely return could be set for the Stormers’ next URC game - which just happens to be the return derby against the Sharks in Durban on 5 December.
Dobson has already indicated his team will be without their Boks in that game, but unless Mbonambi is in Erasmus’ squad for the away leg of the Nations Championship, which starts next week, he should be available to play against his old team. And after the acrimony of his departure from Durban, he will have a big point to prove.
The Sharks meanwhile will feel they have now been freed by Mbonambi’s departure to chase the signature of Marx, although the smart money should be on him linking up with his former Lions coach Johan Ackermann at the Vodacom Bulls.