Former Junior Springbok lock and new Stormers signing Hendre Stassen returned to the rugby pitch this past Saturday after serving a four-year doping ban he picked up in France.
The former Bulls and Stade de Francais player had a run-out for Tuks in the Blue Bulls Rugby Union (BBRU) Carlton League to get some valuable game time ahead of linking up with the Stormers for the new United Rugby Championship (URC) and Heineken Champions Cup season.
Stassen signed a three-year deal with the Stormers and will join their pre-season camp starting in August. His contract is set to run until June 2026.
The former SA Schools A captain said he was happy with how the first game back went.
He will play one more club rugby match for St. Georges rugby club in the Cape on Saturday before falling in with the inaugural URC champions to prepare for the competitions.
Stassen is a highly-rated lock and can fill in on the flank if needed. He will be a perfect replacement for the versatile Ernst van Rhyn — who departed the Stormers after the end of the recent season. Van Rhyn was the SA Schools captain when Stassen was the A team's leader.
The 25-year-old, hailing from EG Jansen and having represented the Valke at the Craven Week, is described as a Bakkies Botha type of lock, and doesn't shy away from contact.
He will slot in perfectly alongside Ruben van Heerden and Salmaan Moerat, who will be returning from an injury, and young locks Gary Porter and Connor Evans in the middle of the Stormers' engine.
"It went very well," Stassen said about his return to rugby.
"I will play one more game before falling in with the Stormers for the (pre-season) camp."
Stassen maintained his innocence after an abnormally high level of testosterone was found in his urine sample while playing in France.
He reportedly spent over R5 million to prove his innocence, but despite that, he was still banned for four years.
Now he is raring to get back into professional rugby, and his ambitions to play rugby for South Africa are still burning bright. He is highly rated by SA Rugby's director of rugby Rassie Erasmus who played a role in getting him back in South Africa and playing for the Stormers.
IOL Sport