Bad weather denied the DHL Stormers an opportunity to shake off jet lag on Tuesday when their training session in Christchurch, New Zealand, was halted after only 20 minutes.
The latest acquisitions to the Stormers’ Australasia tour squad, Samoan wing Sailosi Tagicakibau and flyhalf Peter Grant, were meant to be integrated into the team’s playing structures ahead of Saturday’s Super Rugby clash against the Crusaders.
But Stormers’ captain Jean de Villiers said on Tuesday that conditions were so bad that training was called off.
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“It has been really cold, wet and windy here the past few days and it turned for the worse today,” said De Villiers.
“In fact, we lasted only 20 minutes at training.
“We decided to postpone training as it was not ideal conditions to get things done. I must say it is probably some of the worst weather I have experienced in New Zealand – and it’s meant to be summer here!”
The Stormers have a few selections to ponder as they need to strengthen the team after an uninspiring performance against the Hurricanes at Newlands last week, where they scraped home 19-18, thanks to a seven-pointer in the dying stages of the match.
Tagicakibau is likely to make his debut for the Stormers at the expense of rookie wing Kobus van Wyk, who was one of the few players to emerge with credit in the Stormers’ first two outings this season.
Van Wyk, a Baby Bok two seasons ago, will very likely be moved out to the substitutes’ bench where he offers cover at wing and centre.
The 31-year-old Tagicakibau is a veteran of three World Cups, and is on loan from London Irish for the Super Rugby season. He has not been playing regularly in the Aviva Premiership after returning from injury and has failed to dislodge the regular wings in the (London Irish) side.
However, Tagicakibau – a highly rated winger in the same mould as former Stormers wing Fijian Sireli Naqelevuki – is a powerful runner, and his height will be valuable when the Stormers backs are called on to field upfield kicks.
London Irish also helped the Stormers last season when they sent out Canadian flank Jebb Sinclair to beef up the Cape franchise’s loose forward resources, which were sorely depleted at the time.
Grant is a highly experienced halfback and he is a far better option than Demetri Catrakilis or Kurt Coleman, who have not been able to stamp their authority on the match in the pivot position. The Stormers have lacked tactically smart kicking ability, and their upfield punts have not troubled their opponents.
The other change will be at lock because Argentinian Manuel Carizza picked up a wrist injury last week and will be sidelined for two months. De Kock Steenkamp has returned from injury and he is the obvious choice to partner Rhynard Elstadt in the second row.
Steenkamp should offer an improvement because Carizza, despite his international pedigree, failed to impress in his first two outings.
De Villiers knows the odds are stacked against his team because the Stormers have never defeated the Crusaders, seven-times Super Rugby winners, in Christchurch. The Crusaders have also triumphed against the Stormers in three of their last four meetings at Newlands.
“Simply put, it is a great challenge for us against a very successful Super Rugby franchise.
“Playing against the Crusaders is really tough, as you can note by the fact that no South African team has won there in ages.
“But that also means it’s a great challenge for us. If we win there, we would have achieved something special, something we haven’t achieved in the past and it’s a great challenge for us as a young squad.”
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee will announce the team to face the Crusaders on Wednesday.
I don’t understand, are there no wings in SA better than an average player who can’t get a starting spot for a very average NH club team?
Why not just bring back Nick Koster?
Todd Blackadder’s gallows humour provided one of the few bright moments of the Crusaders’ season last Friday night.
Following the defeat to the Blues, in which they blew a 17-3 head start, coach Blackadder was asked why the Crusaders took the unusual decision to complete passing drills at halftime.
“It’s sports science. It’s getting our guys ready to start the second half,” Blackadder remarked.
“Obviously we proved that really works out there tonight.”
The Crusaders had led 17-15 at the break. They lost 35-24. Blackadder wasn’t being flippant about his team’s defeat. He knows he can’t afford to be.
But perhaps injecting some unexpected humour into post-match interviews helps coaches remind themselves the next game is only around the corner.
Last year Chiefs coach Dave Rennie, having watched the Crusaders murder his lot 43-15 in Christchurch, referred to the after-match buffet when asked what positives he took from the game.
Rennie appeared to give the question some serious thought before stating: “There’s some nice chicken in the changing shed.”
Not all coaches have the ability to display humour after a loss.
A sun-parched sheep’s skull displayed more emotion than Robbie Deans after a defeat.
Ex-Canterbury coach Aussie McLean, now in the All Blacks coaching team, gave the impression he might explode. You trekked around him with some caution.
Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has been one of the most volatile to visit Christchurch in recent times.
After his side’s narrow loss to the Crusaders last year, Cheika lifted his barrels and kept firing.
His targets included Sanzar referees boss Lyndon Bray, referee Glenn Jackson and a fan who he alleged had flung a bottle at him.
“I don’t want to be a whinger but what can you do? I don’t know, maybe the Waratahs aren’t supposed to win here,” Cheika lamented.
“Maybe that’s the rules.”
Back to Blackadder.
If the Crusaders lose to the Stormers on Saturday night, coaxing any funnies out of him may be more of a challenge.
Never in his five years in charge have they lost their three opening fixtures. The worst streak was in his first year in charge in 2009 when an opening win against the Chiefs was followed by defeats to the Brumbies, Hurricanes, Highlanders and a draw with the Western Force.
In their sixth match, against the Waratahs in Sydney, the Crusaders kick-started their season with a 17-13 victory and they scraped into the semifinals.
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After that game Blackadder greeted No 8 Thomas Waldrom by grabbing him around the neck and hugging him so hard his face almost turned blue. After the emotionally-barren years under Deans it was an unusual sight.
This Crusaders campaign and the start of the 2009 season are similar.
In 2009 Dan Carter was on sabbatical and Richie McCaw was sidelined with injury. This year Carter is again on sabbatical and McCaw is out for around two months with a busted thumb.
There may also be some tactical lessons to absorb from 2009 when, to get his season back on track, Blackadder tightened his game-plan.
He based his strategies around using his forwards to win territory and possession before allowing his powerful runners to carry the ball near the pack so they weren’t starved of support.
It wasn’t pretty but it worked. Some jittery Crusaders supporters would happily take the ugliest of wins right now.
– © Fairfax NZ News
Loosehead wrote:
I liked Kobus van Wyk, two reasons he is fast and he shares a name with me
He showed a lot of skill last game, just give him experience.
superBul wrote:
So what do they do, they don’t use him.
nope, he is the current wing actually – Kobus van Wyk
The other new big guy will replace Aplon I think
Stormers: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Kobus van Wyk,
13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Damian de
Allende, 11 Gio Aplon, 10 Demetri Catrakilis,
9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk
Burger, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 De Kock Steenkamp,
4 Michael Rhodes, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2
Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Oliver
Kebble, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Ruan Botha, 20
Nizaam Carr, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Peter
Grant, 23 Sailosi Tagicakibau.
Good team.
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