South African prop cements legendary status with unthinkable feat
It was a time for celebration for the DHL Stormers on Saturday after progressing to the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals following a 32-28 victory over Harlequins at the Cape Town Stadium. That was for everyone except 38-year-old player/coach Brok Harris.
Instead, the veteran was preparing to play his second match of the day. Unbelievably, the prop ran out for Western Province later that day in the Currie Cup, in what is surely a first in Champions Cup history.
What makes this feat even more staggering is that he played the first match against Harlequins at loosehead prop, and played the second against Griquas as a tighthead. That is a feat of endurance, versatility and even enthusiasm that no other prop on the planet has rivalled.
Harris replaced Springboks loosehead Steven Kitshoff on 60 minutes in his first match, before coming off the bench on 54 minutes at the same stadium later that day, meaning he played a combined total of 46 minutes of rugby.
The game against Harlequins actually marked the former Dragons prop’s 250th appearance combined for the Stormers and Western Province. He has obviously set his sights on making 500 appearances, and decided the best way to achieve that is to play two matches a day. Unfortunately for him, he was not able to come away with two victory, as Western Province lost 32-13.
As far as April Fool’s Day jokes go, making a 38-year-old prop play two professional matches in one day on either side of the scrum sounds like the ultimate joke, but this actually happened…
👏 What an achievement from our Yster @brokharris who brings up a combined 250 caps for the DHL Stormers and DHL WP on Saturday. #iamastormer #wpjoulekkerding #dhldelivers #brokkie #propidol pic.twitter.com/JQTswHMB3l
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) March 31, 2023
