Hougaard could help out Stormers
by Gavin Rich 23 May 2011, 07:59
Kurt Coleman has flown to Australia and Peter Grant is expected to be fit to play in the next game, but the DHL Stormers have confirmed that they are looking at options from outside of the squad as they look to have flyhalf well covered as the business end of the Vodacom Super Rugby arrives.
Lionel Cronje, the third choice flyhalf who started against the Blues in the absence of Grant and Gary van Aswegen, pulled up in the first half in Auckland with a medial ligament tear on his left knee. Coach Allister Coetzee confirmed afterwards that Cronje would play no further part in the Stormers’ campaign, and of course Van Aswegen will only be back from his injury after the competition.
“We have called Kurt Coleman over to join the squad but we are also looking at options from outside of the squad,” said Coetzee in a telephone interview with SuperSport.com from Auckland.
It is no secret that Springbok utility back Ruan Pienaar was the first choice for the Stormers and it is understood they are interested in getting Pienaar’s services for next year, but the man now most likely to come in to help the Stormers as a stop-gap measure is Derick Hougaard, the former Bulls pivot now playing for Saracens.
The Stormers and Saracens have a twinning agreement through SAIL, who have a controlling interest in both teams, and it is understood that Hougaard is being sounded out about spending the next month and a half with the Stormers. Although talented, Coleman is inexperienced at Super Rugby level and the Stormers would want a seasoned player as back-up just in case Grant breaks down again in the last four weeks of the league stage or during the playoff phase.
With the immediate priority for the Stormers being the Brumbies match in Canberra, however, Coetzee finds himself in the happy position of facing a dilemma that most coaches would envy him for. Grant, Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie are all expected to be available for selection, which means that Coetzee has to choose between the first choice players and the young midfield of Juan de Jongh and Johann Sadie who played such a big part in the Eden Park comeback.
“I do have a difficult decision to make because Juan and Johann really did play well and they confirmed what I said beforehand about them being very talented,” said Coetzee.
Perhaps with this being a time when the need for rotation becomes important Coetzee can get around the potential problem, and improve the Stormers backline’s attacking potency, by reconsidering his early season pledge to play his centres in their preferred positions. He did say that he would rethink if the team situation demanded it, and maybe that time has arrived.
By moving either Jean de Villiers or Jaque Fourie to the wing the Stormers can shift Gio Aplon back to fullback, where he arguably both looks far more comfortable and packs more counter-attacking potential than when he plays on the right wing.
There are no other injury problems in the Stormers camp but this may also be a time to give someone like the hard-working Duane Vermeulen a well-earned rest and start with Nick Koster at No 8. Lock Rynhardt Elstadt has played most of his rugby as a blindside flank so he can cover that position, thus enabling Vermeulen to take the whole weekend off as there won’t be a need for a loose-forward reserve.
What Coetzee will be wary of though is sending out the message to the Brumbies that they are being under-estimated.
The Australian franchise made a slight improvement at the weekend in holding the Western Force to a draw in Perth and the Stormers would not have forgotten that it was the Brumbies who inflicted the first defeat of the 2010 season on them at Newlands last March.