Stormers’ Venter hits 50
Hooker Andre-Hugo Venter says playing a half-century of games for the Stormers is nog te min and wants to show Kaapse fans that there is more to come when he and his manskap tackle Glasgow Warriors in the United Rugby Championship.
Venter, who made his Springbok debut against Portugal in his native town of Bloemfontein in July, will play his 50th game for the Stormers at Stellenbosch on Saturday since making his debut in 2021 against the Bulls.
But the 23-year-old son of former yster Bok flank Andre, says of one day getting to 100 caps: “If you look at a guy like Brok Harris [with 158 caps] – I think the three most capped guys here are all props. Brok, Frans [Malherbe, 143] and Kitsie [Steven Kitshoff, 138].
“Maybe it is time to move that away from the props [union], you know.
“For me [personally] there is still too many boxes to tick [here at the Stormers]. Yes, 50 is a lot of games and I am fortunate to be here but it’s just the start of it.
“The dream is to stay at one place and build up caps and build a kind of a home at one place.”
And of his Bok dad and other family seeing him reach 50 caps, he says: “It is special for me. [I am] really looking forward to the weekend.”
Meanwhile the Stormers will eye revenge after Glasgow beat them in last season’s the URC quarterfinal, and Venter says: “I don’t think we need any motivation. Being able to play infront of your own fans is enough motivation in itself.”
