When Brok Harris heard a golf cart was coming to pick him up and drive him off the field after badly hurting his knee during a scrum against Benetton on Saturday, the veteran prop’s reaction was defiant.
Despite writhing in pain on the grass and after receiving some treatment, Harris was heard saying over the team radio “not a f**” to the cart and instead got up and walked off the field to a standing ovation. As he reached the touchline, he was embraced by his teammates in a sombre, but special moment.
Nodde fok.
The words according to Dobbo of Brok Harris over the radio when the doctor called a cart to wheel him off the field after his knee injury against Benetton.
The legend walked off and was embraced by his teammates on the touchline in an emotional moment #STOvBEN #URC pic.twitter.com/hIo3iK5I5r— Leighton Koopman (@Leighton_K) April 27, 2025
That was when the reality set in that Harris had likely walked off a rugby field in a Stormers jersey for the final time.
Despite the career-ending injury he experienced, it is unlikely he will recover soon, the Stormers floored their Italian opponents, winning 56-5 to take one step closer to sealing their place in the playoffs of the United Rugby Championship (URC). While director of rugby John Dobson was pleased with the team’s performance, the injury to Harris made it a sad ending.
“It’s an emotional one, you could see it from Brokkie’s perspective and that of the players,” Dobson said after the match.
“The truth is, we wanted to get Sazi back on because we didn’t want him to finish the game when he left with the yellow card in the sin bin. So we told Brokkie to maybe look at (picking up) an injury, and I thought he was playing after that scrum. The news then came over the radio that he was properly injured.
Brok Harris being hugged by his Stormers teammates on the sidelines. That was a touching moment #URC #STOvBEN pic.twitter.com/QTsFeVhB8L
— Leighton Koopman (@Leighton_K) April 26, 2025
“We are all very sad because he is such an incredible man. We planned for things (to end at home) around that Cardiff game. I didn’t want him to finish like this. It is tough tonight and we are all emotional.
“When the doc (who was on the field) on the radio said to bring the golf cart (to fetch Harris), you could hear Brokkie saying ‘not a f**’ in the background. That is not how he wanted to finish. It puts us under pressure ahead of the two final games. What a giant of a man.”
👀 Can’t take your eyes off this for too long. #STOvBEN #iamastormer @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/PwlBYbh6zO
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) April 26, 2025
Springbok Frans Malherbe is out injured, Neethling Fouché must still serve one more game as part of his suspension, meaning Sandi is the only tighthead with senior experience. While the team will take a break over the next week to clear their heads, Dobson mentioned that Junior Springbok Zachary Porthen, who trained with the side on Saturday during the warmup, will come into the mix.
On the game itself, Dobson was stoked they could fix the errors they made against Connacht. They defended brilliantly and attacked potently with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at the helm when they could.
Leolin Zas read it like a bedtime story and tucked it away for five!@Vodacom #URC | #STOvBEN | #KidsRound pic.twitter.com/sDonjvL1Ga
— vodacomrugby (@VodacomRugga) April 26, 2025
“That was everything we planned and wanted. Credit to Salmaan (Moerat, captain) and the team, that performance was mature. They were clinical at the start, and we got the lead and trapped them down in the second half. It was a really good performance.
“Defensively it was excellent. I knew we kicked the dragon with Normie (Norman Laker, defence coach).”
Benetton’s brilliant build-up meets Stormers’ stonewall defense! 💪
Beautiful play from Benetton, but the Stormers hustle hard to win the ball back!#BKTURC #URC | #KidsRound #STOvBEN pic.twitter.com/MPsICs2Ip5
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) April 26, 2025
The team conceded five tries last week and Laker drilled them ahead of the clash with Benetton. The Stormers also wanted to show that they are serious title contenders and the overall performance ticked that box.
“The defence made a statement. It was a heavy week, and a lot went into this game. There was a lot of emotion after the Connacht game even though we won. We knew we had to change dramatically (from last weekend) to show we are a championship team.
“I think the breather (this coming week) is not a bad thing.”
