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Eben starts but has a hurdle to overcome

rugby21 March 2019 04:31| © Cycle Lab
By:JJ Harmse
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Eben Etzebeth © Gallo Images

DHL Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has included Eben Etzebeth in his starting team for Saturday’s opening Vodacom Super Rugby tour match against the Hurricanes but the influential lock still has one final hurdle to overcome.According to Fleck, who was speaking to the Cape media via teleconference early on Thursday morning, although he is confident that Etzebeth will be ready to wear the No4 against the Hurricanes, he still has one stage of the concussion test to pass."He is in the team but unfortunately that is not quite it as far as Eben is concerned for this match because he failed the fifth stage of the concussion protocol today," said Fleck from Wellington."That means he still has to pass stage five, so we will give him until tomorrow (Friday) to do that. He has been looking good and has been passing all the stages. We are confident he will play. But if it doesn’t go well for him then we will bump JD (Schickerling) back into the starting team and bring Salmaan Moerat in on the bench."Schickerling was omitted from the starting team as one of three changes to the side that beat the Jaguares 35-8 in Cape Town last weekend. Chris van Zyl has replaced Schickerling in the starting lineup. All the changes have a rotational look to them, with the only other change to the pack being the return of Springbok Bongi Mbonambi for Scarra Ntubeni at hooker.Former Blitzbok star Ruhan Nel returns to the starting team for Dan du Plessis, who has done well at No13 in the last few matches. Du Plessis will be part of a strong bench that Fleck is hoping will make an important impact at the Westpac Stadium.However, although the Stormers have plenty of experience and depth at lock, and will still have a strong pack even without Etzebeth, there is a clear determination to have the big Bok present in this important opening game of a four-match tour."Playing him won’t be risky as we have followed all the protocols. Eben is obviously very keen to play. We’d never put any player at risk or anything like that, so we will follow the medical tests. If he is passed to play, then he will start," said the coach."If he doesn’t play it won’t be too disruptive as we have trained with JD and Salmaan this week. Obviously it was a really short week training-wise, with only two sessions. We trained on Tuesday and again today. Eben has been part of all those sessions, and the walk-throughs, and so have the other players."It has been a great training week for us. Apart from Eben, everything has gone according to plan."It is interesting to note that Damian Willemse continues off the bench for the second successive week, with Dillyn Leyds being rewarded for his play against the Jaguares. But Willemse’s continued presence among the replacements, plus the addition now of Schickerling, Du Plessis and Ntubeni, does give the bench a powerful look. The reserves played a big role in shifting up a gear for the Stormers just when it was needed against the Jaguares."I thought Damian was outstanding off the bench last week and he made a big impact, he is back to his best. In fact I thought the whole bench played well, and we do have a strong bench for this game. JD, Scarra, Jaco (Coetzee), Dan, Wilco… we have a lot of impact coming onto the field and we will need that against a team that always tend to lift the tempo later in the game."I am looking forward to the bench playing a crucial role in Saturday’s game. It will be needed, particularly against a New Zealand team that likes to play with tempo and is always dangerous on their home patch regardless of what team they put out."DHL Stormers team: Dillyn Leyds, Sergeal Petersen, Ruhan Nel, Damian de Allende, SP Marais, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Herschel Jantjies, Juarno Augustus, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Chris van Zyl, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: Scarra Ntubeni, Corne Fourie, Wilco Louw, JD Schickerling, Jaco Coetzee, Justin Phillips, Dan du Plessis, Damian Willemse.

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