The 21-year-old Porthen is set to face the biggest challenge of his fledgling career, being part of the Springbok setup on their end-of-year-tour.
Springbok bolter Zachary Porthen can still improve, and will continue to get better, according to Stormers assistant coach Rito Hlungwani, after the 21-year-old was a surprise call-up to the national squad for their end-of-year-tour to the UK and Europe.
Porthen is a former Junior Springbok captain and only made his senior Stormers at the end of last season, in round 17 of the United Rugby Championship (URC) earlier this year in May, when he came on as a second half substitute in their win over Dragons in Cape Town.
This season he has featured in three of the Stormers’ four games so far, coming off the bench against Leinster at home and Scarlets away, before making his first start over the past weekend against Zebre.
He has already shown plenty of promise, initially in two years for the Junior Boks, and currently for the Stormers, while Director of Rugby John Dobson praised his performance against Zebre, but it is undeniable that he is not anywhere near his peak and that he will improve as he gains more experience.
“We’re still going to see a lot of him. He’s still a young guy, but he’s put his hand up with how he runs around the field, he’s got a high work rate and great soft skills,” said Hlungwani in a Stormers online press conference on Tuesday.
“He’s improved his scrumming a lot, working against experienced players at training, he’s someone who learns quickly, and we’re quite excited because we know he’s only at the beginning of what he can be.”
Experience boost
Hlungwani explained that Porthen had already received a boost over most props his age, with the experience he has faced coming up against the Stormers veteran front rankers in their system over the past couple of years, and that his call-up wasn’t a surprise.
“I always talk about our Tuesday scrum sessions, so it’s not a big surprise for us that he’s been called up. Zach has been scrumming against some of the best looseheads around the world,” said Hlungwani.
“He’s scrummed against Kitsie (retired double World Cup winning Bok Steven Kitshoff) already, and one of the best attacking looseheads in the world in Ali Vermaak.
“He’s been training in the fire for almost two years, and it’s quite nice to see him developing into the player he’s become. Now he’s getting recognition from the Springboks.”
URC tour
Looking ahead to their final tour match before the international break, Hlungwani said that all of their Springboks are in line to play, after teams like the Bulls and Sharks are resting them ahead of the end-of-year-tour, including scrumhalf Cobus Reinach who has joined up with them.
“We have different plans with our Springboks. We’ve made individual plans about who’s going to play this game and who’s going to be rested. It’s totally different to how other teams are approaching it,” explained Hlungwani.
“Yes, he’s (Reinach) here. No team will ever complain when you add that kind of experience, so it’s quite helpful for us and nice to have him around.
“He’s still learning a couple of things that we do differently, but a player of his calibre picks up information quickly. We’re very happy to have him here.”
