Wearing the Stormers badge is special, says prodigal son Oli Kebble ahead of 50th cap

It has been a long time between drinks, but Oli Kebble is at last set to reach the 50-cap milestone for the Stormers, the team he grew up supporting and who gave him his start in professional rugby.

Kebble, the son of former Springbok Guy, will feature in the Stormers’ Champions Cup match against Harlequins in London on Sunday. Like his father, Kebble was schooled at Bishops in Cape Town before making his debut for Western Province in 2012. Oli played 47 matches for the Stormers between 2014 and 2017, and then played 105 times for the Glasgow Warriors.

Before rejoining the Stormers late last year, Kebble featured in 17 games for Oyonnax in the French Pro D2. “I’m very excited for Sunday,” said Kebble, who has played 12 Tests for Scotland. “Any time you get to put the Stormers jersey on, it’s special. I’ve waited a while to get to this number, but all good things take time.”

Kebble played four matches for the Junior Springboks before pinning his colours to the Scotland mast. He said he has returned to South Africa as an older and wiser loosehead prop at 33 years of age.

“I came back as a bit of an older head,” he said. “The first time around at the Stormers, I was a youngster with a lot of big names pushing me around. To return now, knowing the coaches and how things work, has been amazing.

"To play for the Stormers again is obviously something that I wasn’t sure was going to happen, but now that it’s happened, it’s a dream come true again.”

Kebble explained that an important part of his reason for returning to Cape Town was to expose his young children to their wider family. “But it was primarily to represent the Stormers,” he explained. “I’ll say it a thousand times: every time you wear this badge, it’s incredibly special.”

The Stormers’ opponents on Sunday have had an uncharacteristically bad run in the English Premiership, but Kebble feels this makes them all the more dangerous as they look for redemption in the Champions Cup.

“They’ve got quality players and good depth, especially up front,” Kebble said of a team that boasts England internationals in Marcus Smith, Joe Marler, Fin Baxter, Chandler Cunningham-South and Alex Dombrandt.

“The Stoop is a tough place to play. We’re really looking forward to the scrum battle, and it doesn’t matter who wears the jersey for us — we’re going there to take them on.”

Kebble added that he is enjoying the experience of being a senior in a Stormers squad bursting with young talent. “A lot of the youngsters don’t actually need my advice — they’re very good,” he smiled.

“I’m incredibly impressed with Zachary Porthen,” Kebble said of the 21-year-old Springbok prop. “But that’s no secret; he’s already a Springbok, so he developed rather quickly. But if I can help where I can and mentor a bit, I enjoy that. At the same time, I’m here to do a job for the team.”