Salmaan Moerat (Gallo Images)
- Lock Salmaan Moerat will captain the Stormers in the upcoming URC season.
- He takes the captain’s armband from Steven Kitshoff, who will play for Irish club Ulster next season.
- Moerat missed a large part of last season due to a knee injury but has worked hard to regain fitness.
Lock Salmaan Moerat has been confirmed as the Stormers’ captain for the 2023/24 URC season.
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Moerat, 25, has captained the Stormers in previous campaigns and was the first player to lead the Cape franchise in their debut URC season in 2021.
He made his Springbok debut against Wales last year, but his season was cut short by a serious knee injury picked up in a Champions Cup clash in December.
Moerat has worked hard to regain full fitness and he’ll be ready to lead the Stormers when the new season starts in October.
He will take over from Bok prop Steven Kitshoff, who has joined Irish club Ulster.
“Salmaan is a fantastic rugby player, a proven leader and most importantly a top human being who embodies what we want our team to be about,” Stormers coach John Dobson said in a statement.
“He and his family are part of the proud rugby heritage of the region and I know that the team will be in safe hands on the pitch with him at the helm.”
Moerat, who made his Stormers debut at the age of 21 in 2018, said it was a “huge honour” to be named the Stormers’ regular skipper.
“It’s certainly not something that I will take for granted.
“I know how much this team means to the people who support us and I’ll be doing everything I can to continue making them proud of us.
“I couldn’t be happier to be back to full fitness and putting in the hard work in pre-season with the rest of the team. We have a lot to be excited about and I know the motivation levels among the squad are at an all-time high,” Moerat said.
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