Gavin Rich profiles Siyabonga 'Scarra' Ntubeni ahead of his official farewell appearance for the Stormers against Connacht on Saturday, tracing a career that began in 2011 and was repeatedly derailed by injury. Ntubeni reflects candidly on what might have been — a Springbok debut in 2013 never materialised, and his solitary Test cap came only in a 2019 World Cup warm-up against Argentina, after multiple tours where he never got onto the field. Despite it all, he reaches 100+ Stormers appearances and exits as a rare one-club man, a breed Rich frames as genuinely endangered in modern professional rugby.
The piece is given extra emotional weight by the sudden passing of long-serving Stormers team manager Chippie Solomon last week. Ntubeni's tribute to Solomon — who picked him up at Cape Town station as a teenager and became a father figure to generations of players — is the most affecting passage in the piece. Saturday's game will serve as a commemoration for both men. Ntubeni also notes he remains contracted and available if injuries strike before season's end, and tips Connacht as a genuine threat, not a lap-of-honour occasion. Worth reading for the Ntubeni and Solomon tributes alone.