THE LAST DANCE

Leighton Koopman

The Stormers will be looking to give their captain Steven Kitshoff the perfect send-off on Saturday.

IT’S goodbye but not farewell to Stormers captain and stalwart prop Steven Kitshoff as he prepares to greet the DHL Stadium and Cape Town faithful one last time in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final against Munster.

Ulster and Belfast await after Saturday evening with Kitshoff’s decade-long Stormers career drawing to a close, but it is a journey the 31-year-old can look back on with fond memories.

It’s been a month of farewells for the Stormers skipper since the home quarterfinal against the Bulls with the Rugby Gods aligning to extend Kitshoff’s final hurrah.

“Cape Town is home for me. I just had the opportunity to go overseas again and I’ve spoken to Dobbo (John Dobson) and he is keen to have me back. So I am just going to go for a stint and keep the lines of communication open.

“Financially, it made sense (to go overseas), and it was also a good opportunity to get some experience, so I felt like I had to take it. Before I made the decision I spoke to Marcell Coetzee and Ruan

(Pienaar), and Duane (Vermeulen), who were there at some stage. They were all very happy at Ulster and there’s a good team culture.

“But I am keen to come back, the Stormers will always be my home.”

For Kitshoff it feels like only yesterday he stepped into the Stormers jersey, and remembers his debut as a then 18-year-old for Allister Coetzee’s team back in 2011 very fondly.

He was fresh out of school, but quickly established himself as a prop to be reckoned with.

“I always lived in Cape Town –Stellenbosch and Somerset West at school – so I’ve always been a big Stormers supporter, especially when I started playing for them, it meant so much more.

“It’s been a long road since representing them at Craven Week level as a schoolboy. I had a couple of heroes, especially when I went to high school, and understood the game a bit more. Guys like Andries Bekker and Schalk Burger and those okes, who I had the opportunity to play with.

“Those were the guys who stood out for me, and I always wished I could play like them and move like them, but unfortunately I ate too much as a kid so I went to the front row. The 2006 to 2010 Stormers team was just incredible.

“It also feels like just the other day that I put a Stormers jersey on for the first time. I remember my first

(Super Rugby) tour with the team. It’s been an incredible journey, and I would not change it for the world.”

But for now, Kitshoff has to say goodbye and just wants to enjoy his last match in the Stormers jersey, which hopefully ends once more with him raising the silver cup.

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