Bongi Mbonambi has returned to the Stormers after five years at the Sharks, with a hooker injury crisis at the DHL Newlands outfit accelerating what Dobson describes as a recent mission to bring the 35-year-old back to the club he represented 74 times before his move to Durban in 2021.
The immediate trigger was a double blow sustained against Scarlets last weekend. Andre-Hugo Venter faces two months out with an elbow injury, with an operation potentially extending that absence to 11 months. Deon Fourie, whom Dobson had intended to deploy at hooker against Ulster this weekend despite using him as a loosehead against Scarlets, is facing three months out with a hamstring injury. Back-up hooker Lukhanyo Vokozela was also injured in the same match, while JJ Kotze remains suspended until the Stormers' Champions Cup trip to Bordeaux in mid-December. That left Vernon Paulo as the projected starter against Ulster, with Mbonambi slotting in off the bench and veteran Scarra Ntubeni coming out of retirement to provide additional cover.
Mbonambi was no longer wanted at the Sharks and had been lined up for a medical joker stint at Bordeaux-Bègles, but SA Rugby intervened to keep him in domestic rugby, reportedly covering a significant portion of his contract to ensure his form can be monitored locally ahead of any Springbok recall. His ambition, according to those close to the move, remains a shot at a World Cup final appearance of substance — he was an early casualty in both the Yokohama and Paris finals in 2019 and 2023.
Dobson is at pains to frame the signing within the Stormers' established narrative of financial prudence, a stance shaped partly by watching the Sharks struggle with the cost of their Galactico era under MVM Investments. The same framing applied to the earlier acquisitions of Siya Kolisi and lock Corne Rahl, the latter a Montagu-born, Oakdale-schooled player whose move from the Sharks takes effect in July.
"Bongi's in good physical shape but he hasn't trained. That's why we were so anxious to rush him in," Dobson said, noting that if Mbonambi does not play before the upcoming break, he faces a four-to-five-week gap without match action. "Hookers are diesel, they need to scrum and they need to maul. We have to get him back on the field to accelerate that journey. His throwing is no issue whatsoever. Scrum time is no issue. Learning our maps, our way of playing, is maybe a bit more of a challenge. He's one of the best set-piece workers around."