Stormers' Brok Harris (40) retires after 19 years and 400 matches: 'I'm honoured and privileged'

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to DHL Stormers prop Brok Harris.

Listen below:

The Stormers will take on the Dragons at DHL Stadium on Saturday, 10 May at 6:15 pm.

Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.

The game is set to be a memorable one as Damian Willemse will make his 100th appearance for the Stormers, but it's also a bittersweet moment as the team bids farewell to a legend, Brok Harris, after a 19-year rugby career.

If Kiewit had it his way, he would want a street named after Harris or a statue of him next to Alistair Vermaak and Scarra Ntubeni in front of City Hall, he only half jokingly says.

Harris, who also played for the Dragons from 2014 to 2021, is retiring, which means there will be a guard of honour for him at tomorrow's game.

The moment Harris went down with a knee injury in his team’s United Rugby Championship clash against Benetton, he knew his career of almost 400 matches had ended.

Harris played 93 matches for the Stormers in his first stint in Cape Town (2007–2014) and 120 for Western Province. Since rejoining the Stormers in 2021, he has added a further 56 appearances.

Now, the 40-year-old Stormers legend is retiring with a happy heart.

"I'm fortunate to have a very long career... I actually thought when I came back from Dragons I was done, but John Dobson convinced me otherwise, and now it's over 400 games... a lot of scrums in those 400 games... it's been an amazing journey for me. I'm just honoured and privileged to have played the game and for the longevity of it."

- Brok Harris, prop - Stormers

Harris says the next chapter for him will be transitioning into coaching.

"My next chapter will be transitioning into the coaching side and just mentoring the youngsters coming through, so passing that knowledge on to them... It's exciting times because I'm not leaving rugby, so it's sad, but I'm very excited..."

- Brok Harris, prop - Stormers

On the team's game tomorrow, Harris says they are 'in a good space' to take on the Dragons, and the rain won't keep them from sticking to the game plan or giving 'that energy' for the final two games.

"We're in a good space at the moment and running into form now... the Dragons will fight until the end, so we're going to need to have an A-team performance against them... It's going to be tough playing against them."

- Brok Harris, prop - Stormers

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.