Viral Boland club rugby star Lleyton Davids has signed his first professional rugby contract with the Stormers, his agent Shafiek Mouton of F7 Sports Management confirmed on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Bonnievale-born winger caught the Stormers’ attention while playing for Robertson Town in Boland club rugby this season, after scoring 31 tries in 19 games.
Davids, who is a former three-time South African senior triple jump champion and runs the 100m sprint in roughly 10.30 seconds, had taken social media by storm with videos of his electric pace, leaving defenders for dead with his breathtaking acceleration.
Davids earned an invitation to train with the Stormers in Cape Town, culminating in his selection for a pre-season friendly against the Bulls in Paarl. In that match, Davids scored a spectacular try by rounding Bulls flyer Thaakir Abrahams to sprint down the touchline and dot down.
Davids was left out of the Stormers’ initial United Rugby Championship squad, but coach John Dobson revealed that the speedster is viewed as a long-term project, as he needs time to adapt to the tactical demands of top-flight rugby and the URC.
“The Robertson Express … that guy is a freak in every way,” Dobson said during the Stormers’ squad announcement ahead of the new season.
“He is someone we’re going to invest in. We’ve seen enough. We took a punt based on some grainy footage and a drive through Robertson, and we think there’s something special there.
“It’s going to take him a year — at least a year. So he’s not going to play URC rugby this season, but we’re going to keep developing him and keep him with us. There are some areas around the contestable game that we need to fix before he plays URC.”
