Dobbo lifts lid as stormers signs new star

The 24-year-old linked up with the Cape club from the Cheetahs at the beginning of February, and has already been part of the squad’s training sessions as they prepare for their derby against the Lions in Johannesburg at the end of the month.

Dobson revealed that Paulo has been on their radar “for a long time”, and now the former Cheetahs front-ranker has the chance to make his mark in Cape Town.

But he’ll have to work for decent game time, as the Stormers already have the established Andre-Hugo Venter, JJ Kotze and Lukhanyo “Boepa” Vokozela on their roster.

Nevertheless, with 35-year-old Scarra Ntubeni potentially nearing retirement, Paulo’s signing could prove particularly timely.

Dobson said the interest in Paulo stretches back to his school days.

Vernon has shown a lot of promise since school at Oakdale. We were close at one stage to contracting and developing him in partnership with Griquas, but he decided to go to the Cheetahs,” Dobson told newsmen.

“What we really like about him is his ability as a ball-carrier, his physical presence, scrummaging and competitive nature. In those respects he reminds one of Joseph Dweba. His lineout throwing and conditioning will need a bit of refinement, but he shows a lot of promise.”

Paulo has built a reputation for accurate throwing and explosiveness in open play, traits that will now be honed within the Stormers’ high-performance environment.

The Stormers made every attempt to keep him in Cape Town. So did South African rugby. But this decision, as Keohane notes, “was bigger than rugby”.