Stormers coaches Rito Hlungwani and John Dobson have hailed Zachary Porthen’s breakout year.
Porthen is the only new face in Rassie Erasmus’ 36-man Bok squad for their year-end tour.
The 21-year-old prop has enjoyed a whirlwind 2025 – from making his Stormers debut in May to now rubbing shoulders with the world champions.
And according to his coaches, the front-row powerhouse has the skill set, temperament and work ethic that screams Springbok potential.
“He does the types of things the Springboks like,” said Hlungwani, the Stormers forwards coach. “He’s got good tackle technique for a tall guy, tackles low, carries the ball well and his scrummaging has improved a lot, and in my mind I’m thinking [Springbok scrum coach] Daan [Human] would probably just want to work with him even more now.”
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Hlungwani praised Porthen’s attitude and all-round impact on both sides of the ball.
“He’s a hard worker, that kid. He’s still got that youthful energy. He can run, he’s explosive … He’s very handy. An attack coach likes him because he’s got a high work rate and carries well, the defence coach the same thing: tackles, likes the physical stuff and has a strong leg drive once he’s tackled you.”
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Director of rugby Dobson told News24 that Porthen’s progress since captaining the Junior Boks at the World Rugby U20 Championship had been “staggering”.
“He’s always had a wonderful general game,” he added. “I think they had a tough time in the set piece during last year’s U20 World Championship and you could see the amount he was wearing on his shoulders captaining that team and being a tightwad prop leading, scrumming, tackling and carrying.
“He’s a leader and if you’re going to sketch a tighthead from scratch, you probably do it in the build and size of Zach. His intensity in contact and work rate is brilliant and we’re very happy for him.”
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Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
The post Dobbo, Rito: Zach ticks all Bok boxes appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Stormers coaches Rito Hlungwani and John Dobson have hailed Zachary Porthen’s breakout year.
The post Dobbo, Rito: Zach ticks all Bok boxes appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
