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Boks on board for Stormers’ make or break tour

rugby07 May 2024 10:45| © SuperSport
By:Gavin Rich
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Manie Libbok © Gallo Images

The DHL Stormers set off on Tuesday for what can be described as a make or break two match Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour to Wales and Ireland with only Deon Fourie missing from their usual complement of World Cup winning Springboks.

Damian Willemse, Manie Libok and Frans Malherbe are all part of the 27-man touring group for crucial matches against the Dragons in Newport on Friday night and Connacht in Galway the following Saturday. Also in the touring party are a clutch of previously injured players who have returned to full fitness, most notably the precociously talented young flyhalf/centre Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and the current first choice loosehead prop Sti Sithole.

Also in the group is former Blitzbok star Angelo Davids and his return is timely as Ben Loader, who has started the last few games at wing, is among the players missing the tour because of injury. Also back in the mix and at a timely juncture is another prop Kwenzo Blose, which means the Stormers might not be quite as stretched as they have been recently when it comes to their front row resources.

Apart from Loader and Fourie, with the latter out for the rest of the season, the players not considered because of injury included another wing in Leolin Zas, centre Ruhan Nel, scrumhalf Paul de Wet, flanker Nama Xaba, utility forward Hendre Stassen as well as two further props in Lizo Gqoboko and Ali Vermaak.

An interesting reappearance in the squad is Jean-Luc du Plessis, who was at inside centre and played pretty well when he suffered an injury shortly before halftime in the home derby against the Vodacom Bulls just before Christmas. Of course, Du Plessis can also cover flyhalf.

This is an important tour for the Stormers as although they are still in the frame for their primary objective of making it into the top four and thus clinching a home playoff game, with their current position being fifth, six points behind the fourth placed Bulls, their Investec Champions Cup status could be under threat if they fail on this tour.

Their place in the top eight, which signifies Champions Cup qualification, is far from impregnable, so they need to win both games to make sure before returning home to face the Emirates Lions at the DHL Stadium in the final league match at the start of next month. The Stormers haven’t won overseas in a URC game since they beat the Zebre in Parma in October 2022.

They’ve also had a fairly poor record against Welsh teams in recent times, with losses to Cardiff in Cardiff both this season and last season and of course the Ospreys beat them in Cape Town a few weeks ago. Stormers director of rugby John Dobson knows just how important this tour is to how the season will turn out for his men.

“The congested nature of the log shows just how competitive the URC has been this season and we will need to be at our best to get the results that we need from this trip,” said Dobson.

“It is great to have the likes of Sacha, Angelo, Sti and Kwenzo back in the group and we are looking forward to the challenges that await us at Newport and in Galway.”

The Stormers team for the Newport game will be announced on Thursday.


DHL Stormers touring squad

Backs: Angelo Davids, Dan du Plessis, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Warrick Gelant, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Herschel Jantjies, Manie Libbok, Wandisile Simelane, Stefan Ungerer, Damian Willemse.

Forwards: Kwenzo Blose, Hacjivah Dayimani, Ben-Jason Dixon, Joseph Dweba, Willie Engelbrecht, Neethling Fouche, Brok Harris, JJ Kotze, Frans Malherbe, Salmaan Moerat (captain), Evan Roos, Sti Sithole, Adre Smith, Marcel Theunissen, Ruben van Heerden, Andre-Hugo Venter.

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