Springbok great Frans Malherbe offers encouraging update on long-term injury

By SABC Sport
20th October 2026

Frans Malherbe has offered an encouraging update as he continues his recovery from a long-term injury that has kept him out of the game for more than 18 months.

The double Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok tighthead prop has not played since the Stormers' United Rugby Championship clash against the Scarlets in March 2025.

Malherbe has been sidelined by chronic neck and back problems, which have threatened to bring his career with the Stormers and Springboks to an end.

The 35-year-old came close to retiring from professional rugby before Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus intervened and encouraged him to continue his recovery rather than make a final decision on his future.

He has since been working towards a return to action and has been training with the Stormers, despite being left out of the Cape Town-based side's URC squad for the 2026/27 season.

Appearing on the Boks Unpacked X The Verdict show, Malherbe provided a positive update on his future.

"I'm actually good," he said when Springboks legend Schalk Burger asked how he was tracking.

"I think the bigger picture is that there has been good improvement. I have started training with the team, team training without contact and stuff like that.

"So, it's obviously very nice to do rugby training, rugby-related, rather than just running back and forth - which is not my favorite part.

"It's actually been going well, with some good improvement, and I will hopefully soon get stuck into a scrum."

Malherbe appeared on the show after being voted into the Springboks Dream XV as the best tighthead prop of the modern era. A back-to-back Rugby World Cup winner, he was also a regular selection under four Springbok head coaches - Heyneke Meyer, Allister Coetzee, Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus - earning 76 Test caps in the process.

"It's obviously a massive honour and privilege," he said on being voted as the best Bok tighthead.

"You do feel quite good about yourself; I don't know who voted, but thanks. Hopefully they counted the votes quite thoroughly," he joked. "But it's a massive honour and very special to be in that team amongst all those legends."