A 28-man DHL Stormers squad will head to George this weekend, as the Men from the Cape start their 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby preparations against the SWD Eagles at Outeniqua Park on Saturday (Kick-Off 16:30 SA Time).
Stormers squad for George:
New captain Duane Vermeulen will lead a starting XV with four Test players – three Springboks and an Argentine international – whilst props Steven Kitshoff (back from a long-term injury) and Vincent Koch (a new signing) are the other noteworthy inclusions.
Dillyn Leyds, after making his return from Australia during last year’s Absa Currie Cup competition, will start on the left-wing – part of an exciting back three with EW Viljoen on the right-wing and speedster Cheslin Kolbe lining up at fullback.
Stormers Media Release
DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee told the www.iamastormer.com website: “We have trained very well so far, and had a particularly successful trip to Hermanus last week. However, as we all know there is no substitute for actual game time and trying out what you have trained in an actual game situation.
“We have some goals in mind ahead of Saturday’s match, which includes making use of an enlarged bench, so we’re looking forward to getting some answers this week in our first of three pre-season matches.”
The DHL Stormers will arrive in George on Friday. The entire playing squad will meet fans and sign autographs after Saturday’s match at Outeniqua Park.
DHL Stormers for SWD Eagles: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 EW Viljoen, 13 Juan de Jongh (Vice-captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen (Captain), 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Gerbrandt Grobler, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Oliver Kebble, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Jurie van Vuuren, 20 Neil Rautenbach, 21 Michael Willemse, 22 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 23 Louis Schreuder, 24 Demetri Catrakilis, 25 Huw Jones, 26 Jaco Taute, 27 Godlen Masimla, 28 Robert du Preez
Referee: Quinton Immelman
Fitness Report:
Loose forwards Nizaam Carr and Siya Kolisi will not be available for Saturday’s pre-season friendly against the SWD Eagles in George, but the DHL Stormers’ long-term injured players are all making good progress ahead of the 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby tournament.
Carr was in hospital last week with a severe viral infection, but has since been discharged and is recovering well at home, whilst Kolisi is resting a hamstring niggle from last week.
The likes of locks Jean Kleyn and Ruan Botha and prop Frans Malherbe are all still making good progress from their long-term injuries, meanwhile, with Kleyn joining full team training on Monday.
The DHL Stormers will travel to George on Friday, ahead of Saturday’s meeting with the SWD Eagles at Outeniqua Park (kick-off 16h30). The team, to face the Eagles, will be announced on Tuesday late morning.
The DHL Stormers will open their 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby campaign against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday 14 February (Kick-Off 19:10 SA Time). Their first home game is against the Blues, at DHL Newlands, on Saturday 21 February (17:05 SA Time).
Before then, however, the 2011 and 2012 SA Conference winners will participate in three pre-season friendlies over the next three weeks – this weekend against SWD, the Cheetahs (30 January – home, Kick-Off 19:00 SDA Time) and the Boland Cavaliers (7 February – away, Kick-Off TBC).
Injury List (19/01/2015):
- Loose forward Nizaam Carr (viral infection) is recovering well at home and should be available for selection in two weeks’ time.
- Flanker Siya Kolisi (tight hamstring) is in the final phase of treatment and should train fully next week. He will not be available for selection this week.
- Wing Kobus van Wyk (back) is recovering well after missing training late last week, but will not be risked this weekend.
- Prop Frans Malherbe (ankle) continuing to respond well to treatment from his long-term injury. Will join full team training in about 2 weeks.
- Jean Kleyn (meniscus) continuing to respond well to treatment from his long-term injury. Kleyn did his first team training session today (Monday), but will not be considered for selection as yet.
- Ruan Botha (ankle) continuing to respond well to treatment from his long-term injury. Will join full team training in about 2 weeks.
@ Angostura:
I dont know why i thought he is a prop.
The point im trying to make still along is that if you have a quality fetcher available like hooper, liam gill, George Smith, brussouw ardie savea available they should be in the team, but Ac successfully used Elstadt during the currie cup play offs and people hardly made a fuss over the “loose forward combination” as they did throughout the SR tournament. It was never an issue when kolisi player on the open side for the stommers that he isnt a fetcher because what he did in2013 he did damn well.
Ludeke feel into the trap of media and public outpressure that he needs one and they put their head in the sand to poor ruck technique like cleaning out effectively and protecting the scrumhalf.
MacroBull wrote:
How can you laud AC but berate FL, when all FL did was follow the example of AC by playing what he perceived to be his next best non-openside loose forward as an opensider?
FL’s problem was that Ross was nowhere near the same quality as Carr & Elstadt who filled the Stormers/WP openside position, & one cannot blame just FL for that, but rather those at the Bulls who do the scouting & contracting of players.
What FL is guilty of, is selecting Ross as opensider whilst he had 2 Junior Bok opensiders available & eager at the union/franchise. No forward planning, no talent development, no granting of real growth opportunities (as regards #6 position) … kinda shortsighted from FL focusing on immediate gratification.
FL & AC not alone in this – there is no proper, pervasive appreciation of an opensider/fetcher in SA rugby, not even from HM (or the Sharks for that matter).
@ Angostura:
Sure I can berate FL because Ross was forced a role tat is not his strength instead of being more a ball carrier, they guy got so confused because people forced him to be someone who he isn’t… No one is forcing Carr or Elstadt to change their game, Elstadt is still a ball carrier/enforcer while Carr gets around the park and is often the leading tackler, to quote GBS on the mainstream definition of a blind side flank “a hard and demon tackling blinsider who is also great at carrying the ball up”.
Roelof Smit and Wiaan Liebenberg are still only 22 years old and to be honest the (granted) little time they have been on the field, they hardly made an impact.
An opensiders role is not just so simple as being a “fetcher”, the “fetcher” role should be dynamic within the team during a given game where a wing(such as habana) or prop (Greyling, Coenie), scrumhalf (hougie, reinach) should all be “fetchers”. Hooper was not as good a fetcher as Matt Hodgson last year, but he stood out because of his general play and hard running.
32 @ Angostura:
Thanks Ango,
Your comments make perfect sense and a I agree fully.
The succession planning at the Bulls is seriously lacking, and apart from that Ludeke has certain favourite players (witbroodjies) which he just keeps pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing… Dean Greyling, Werner Kruger, Callie Visagie, Jono Ross, Rudy Paige, JJ Engelbrecht and Jurgen Visser just gets continued with, ad nauseam, even when they are so seriously out of form that we want to puke.
Luckily in 2015 there is competition for Dean Greyling (Mellett & Trevor Nyakane), for Werner Kruger (Marcel van der Merwe), Callie Visagie (Adriaan Strauss), Jono Ross is thankfully overseas.
I’m worried that Rudy Paige, JJ Engelbrecht & Jurgen Visser will be continued with, ad nauseam in 2015!! In stead, the Bulls should try their damndest to get Fourie du Preez back from Japan and use a centre pairing of Burger Odendaal (No 12) and Jan Serfontein (No 13 where he plays for the Bokke), with William Small-Smith also getting some chances at No 13 (primarily) and No 12 (every so often). Move JJ Engelbrecht out to right wing again, play Jamba Ulengo or JJ (if he shapes up) in place of the ageing Akona Ndungane. Play Jesse Kriel at Fullback and not the donkey, Jurgen Visser.
But that’s not all where Ludeke’s vision and approach is so stoid, stale, unimaginative… there is no rejuvenation in the game plan and approach and the old outdated shit keeps happening, over and over… and execution is then blamed every time it does not work!
Bulls handling skills in the forwards have also been shocking for 2 years now!
Then of course the Bulls sit with the scurge, which is Xander Janse van Rensburg, who does not know his finger from his arse in the scouting and contracting department and who keeps farking things up. How the Bulls have stuck with that Zombie for as long as they have and continue to do so, is beyond me.
Like you said, Wiaan Liebenberg & Roelof Smit should have been brought through long ago, properly… hell their same-age positional counterparts all over, like Michael Hooper, Nizaam Carr & Hodgson are already seasoned senior Super Rugby players and with International Test Caps to their names.
The Bulls only bring youngsters through, when they have no other options, due to serious injuries…. unfortunately. The Bulls are reactive in stead of being pro-active!
If you do not trust your youngsters to come through successfully, you should not have given them contracts in the first place!
No one debates the highly questonable team selections made by Ludeke.
I reiterate, when and if steggies gets injured people will again jump on the bandwagon how we need “short stocky players with upper body strength” when the bulls had MANY other factors for losing all their away games while going unbeaten at home.
Meanwhile PW won the currie cup playing Elstadt on the open side against the bulls(steggies) and the lions (jaco kriel) and then the fact that he isnt a fetcher wasnt a huge issue people moaned about.
I’m really looking forward to watching David Pocock play this year.
What a formidable rugby player, what a man of character!
There was another great Zimbabwean (Rhodesian) fetcher, but who represented the Bokke with distinction …
Can anyone guess who?
88
’twas Piet Greyling:
“It was in this first test of 1967 series (vs. France) that the idea of ‘fetcher’ (= Greyling) and playmaker (carrier = Jan Ellis) became part of the South African psyche.”
“These two were talented flankers – Greyling and Ellis. Greyling was the destructive one causing chaos and Ellis was the constructive partner who set up moves and capitalised on the chaos that Greyling caused.”
per Barry John
It is said that the complementary combinations of Greyling & Ellis, and also Greyling, Ellis & Bedford, were made in (rugby) heaven.
http://blogs.sport24.co.za/mclook/2013/02/17/greyling-and-ellis-pair-made-in-heaven/
Angostura wrote:
Has he been bailed yet?
He was arrested for chaining himself to a bulldozer or something in a tree hugging demo’ somewhere in Aus.
Yes, he was arrested – can’t say if he was bailed, but assume he was released on his own recognisance.
Sometimes people that are arrested are scoundrels & criminals; other times they are people of conviction & character.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rugby-union/brumbies/former-wallabies-captain-david-pocock-stands-by-decision-to-protest-despite-arrest-20141201-11xhve.html
38 @ Angostura:
I just mentioned it “tongue in cheek.”
I heard some very good things about the young man from an Aussie reporter at a Lions / Force game a couple of seasons ago.
It’s going to be interesting to see the battle evolve for the Aus 7 jersey between Pocock and Hooper.
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