Lots of Boks on show for Stormers in George URC warm-up matches
WITH the World Cup in such sharp focus, a fact that has snuck up on fans is that the United Rugby Championship is just two weeks away.
It is with this in mind that the Sharks and Stormers play a warm-up match this afternoon in George, and for the Durbanites, a big focus is their tight-five depth.
Or maybe lack of it is a better way of putting it, because the Sharks are seriously depleted upfront, which is a worry, considering they have a horror start to the URC with away games against Irish giants Munster and Leinster.
The Sharks have to play those games without four tight-five World Cup Springboks – Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch and Eben Etzebeth, and they suffered an unfortunate setback last week when lock Gerbrandt Grobler broke his arm in a trial game against the Lions.
How the Sharks might now rue letting go of under-rated lock Ruben van Heerden – who is turning out for the Stormers in one of two classy teams announced by coach John Dobson for a double header of games, with one side playing the Sharks and the other SWD Eagles.
A big positive for the Sharks is the emergence in the Currie Cup of young lock Corne Rahl. He is only 21, but might have to step into the breach.
Coach John Plumtree has not announced his squad to play the Stormers.
The two clashes will get under way at Outeniqua Park at 3.30pm, when the first Stormers team play the Eagles.
A different combination will then take the field at 6pm against the Sharks.
The captain for the first game will be Bok scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, who leads a team with a balance of youth and experience.
Veteran tighthead prop Neethling Fouche will captain the second squad.
Dobson said that while there are a handful of players who will feature in both games, he is encouraged by the depth he will have on show.
“Our depth will be tested this season, and we wanted to give all the players a chance to feel a part of the system and ensure they are ready for action when we get started in two weeks’ time,” Dobson said.
“It has been a really constructive week here in the Southern Cape, and we are looking forward to connecting with some of our supporters at Outeniqua Park again.
“We have every available player involved on Friday, so this should be a great way to see how we are shaping up before we get going with the United Rugby Championship.”
STORMERS TEAM V SHARKS (6PM)
15 Warrick Gelant 14 Courtnall Skosan 13 Ruhan Nel 12 Dan du Plessis 11 Ben Loader 10 Jurie Matthee 9 Paul de Wet 8 Evan Roos 7 Hacjivah Dayimani 6 Willie Engelbrecht 5 Ruben van Heerden 4 Adre Smith 3 Neethling Fouche (captain) 2 Joseph Dweba 1 Kwenzo Blose Bench: 16 Scarra Ntubeni 17 Ali Vermaak 18 LeeMarvin Mazibuko 19 Hendré Stassen 20 Jarrod Taylor 21 Marcel Theunissen 22 Stefan Ungerer 23 Mnombo Zwelendaba 24 Clayton Blommetjies
Stormers Team v SWD Eagles (3.30pm)
15 Clayton Blommetjies 14 Angelo Davids 13 Chris Hollis 12 Juan de Jongh 11 Leolin Zas 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis 9 Herschel Jantjies (captain) 8 Marcel Theunissen 7 Ben-Jason Dixon 6 Nama Xaba 5 Gary Porter 4 Hendre Stassen 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko 2 André-Hugo Venter 1 Lizo Gqoboka Bench: 16 JJ Kotze 17 Sti Sithole 18 Leon Lyons 19 Dylan Sjoblom 20 Keenan Opperman 21 Jarrod Taylor 22 Tom Bursey 23 Brendan Venter 24 Bingo Ivanesevic