Junior World Player of the Year Haashim Pead leaves Lions to join Stormers for URC season

Haashim Pead, the Junior World Championship 2025 Player of the Year, has left the Lions for the Stormers on the eve of the new United Rugby Championship season, with the Cape Town franchise moving quickly to address a scrum-half shortage caused by Imad Khan’s ACL injury.

The 2025 Junior Springboks sensation lit up the World Rugby U20 Championship in Georgia, scoring six tries in South Africa’s title-winning campaign. Despite that breakthrough, Pead found his path to regular game time at the Lions blocked by Springbok Morne van den Berg and the experienced Nico Steyn.

During his time in Johannesburg, Pead made his senior domestic debut in the Currie Cup against the Vodacom Bulls and earned an international appearance against the Newcastle Red Bulls in 2025. He also received a call-up to Rassie Erasmus’s Springbok alignment camp for the 2025/26 season — an experience that sharpened his ambitions. “It opened my eyes that the Springbok dream is not as far away as you think,” he said in an interview in May.

At the Stormers, Pead will serve as cover for Cobus Reinach while Khan recovers from his knee injury, giving the young scrum-half a genuine opportunity to stake his claim at a club that regularly competes at the top end of the URC.

Lions Rugby Company CEO Rudolf Straeuli paid tribute to the departing player. “Haashim has been a dedicated and exceptional talent since beginning his professional career with us in 2024,” Straeuli said. “While we are sad to see him depart Johannesburg, we respect his decision to take on a new challenge with the DHL Stormers. We thank him for his service to the Lions and wish him success in the next chapter of his career.”

The Stormers open their URC campaign away to Connacht this Friday, while the Lions host defending champions Leinster the following day.