Cornal Hendricks

Springbok winger Cornal Hendricks has signed a contract with Western Province Rugby and will be available for the DHL Stormers from the start of the 2016 Vodacom Super Rugby season.

The speedster, who originally made his name at international Sevens level, will return to his roots as a DHL Stormers player – having played his early provincial rugby for Boland, before becoming a full-time Sevens player in 2012 and then joining the Free State Cheetahs in 2014.

Hendricks, 27, made his Test debut in June of last year, whilst the 2013 Springbok Sevens Player of the Year was also a key member of the Commonwealth Games Gold medal-winning SA Sevens team in July 2014.

In all, he has played 11 Tests (as well as an additional match against the World XV) for the Springboks, scoring five tries – including a try on debut against Wales and a memorable solo score against the All Blacks in their hard-fought Rugby Championship tussle in Wellington in September 2014.

At 1,89 metres and 90 kilograms, he is an ideal wing signing for the DHL Stormers, with WP Director of Rugby Gert Smal telling the www.iamastormer.com website: “Cornal is tall and fast, which is what you need out wide at Super Rugby level, and he’s also a proven performer at international level.

“He is a local player who is coming home to his roots, so it’s an exciting signing for us on many levels. We look forward to seeing him in DHL Stormers colours come 2016.”