Winger Dylan Maart’s stock continues to rise as he becomes entrenched within the Stormers’ set-up, but his road to the top has been anything but easy.
Maart scored a brace of tries in the Stormers’ 42-21 Investec Champions Cup win over La Rochelle in Gqeberha on Saturday, in what was another assured performance at club rugby’s top level.
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That rise, however, has been anything but smooth. At 29, when many players are well-established in their careers, Maart made a life-altering decision to leave his job as a warehouse worker at a bottling plant and betting everything on rugby.
Two years later, that gamble has taken him from the fringes of South African rugby to the Currie Cup podium, the Vodacom URC stage and the bright lights of the Champions Cup with the Stormers.
“I played rugby in primary school, but nothing in high school, for various reasons,” Maart told Rapport. “Things weren’t good at home. There were many nights when there was no food and we went to sleep hungry.”
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At just 13, he worked as a taxi guard – opening doors, collecting fares, carrying bags – simply to help put food on the table. It was also the only way he could get to school in Paarl, riding for free because he worked on the taxi.
But Maart never let go of his love for the game.
When his chance finally came, he grabbed it with both hands, winning promotion and silverware with the Boland Cavaliers, becoming a cornerstone of a Griquas side that ended a 55-year Currie Cup drought, and now making his mark in Stormers colours following a loan deal.
Photo: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images
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