Former Bok coach Nick Mallett hails debutant prop's battle stats

The 21-year-old will become the youngest prop in the professional era to debut for South Africa when he runs on in the starting XV for the Boks' opening tour match against Japan at Wembley.

Speaking on the Talking Rugby podcast with journalist Brendan Nel, Mallett heaped praise on the youngster's form this season with the Stormers.

"I think obviously Zach Porthen is the big talking point," he said.

"I mean, he's been an outstanding rugby player, a captain for the under-21s.

"Interestingly enough, scrummaging was not his strong point when he was an under-21 player. He was a wonderful ball carrier, had huge battle stats around the field.

"Great carries, great tackle counts, good cleans, a great rugby player, just in general.

"And it's a great opportunity for him to play his first test against Japan, not renowned scrummagers, obviously, and with Marx next to him and Ox, I mean, Jeepers. That's a really nice soft landing as your opening Test match."

A product of SA Rugby's Elite Player Development Programme, Porthen was always destined for greatness. And under the tutelage of legendary Stormers scrummager Brok Harris, Porthen has shown good technique and strength at scrumtime.

"I just want to put in a word of congratulations to Brok Harris, who's doing the scrummaging for the Stormers," he said.

"He's taken him from the beginning of the season when he joined the Stormers camp and has worked incredibly hard on getting his posture right. And he's been outstanding in the first five games of the URC. He hasn't gone backwards against some very good looseheads.

"You know, the Leinster loosehead (Paddy McCarthy) was good, as was the guy from Benetton (Thomas Gallo) and Zebra (Muhamed Hasa). They're all international players. So congratulations to him."