Stormers look on the bright side
The Stormers have taken a philosophical approach to losing star centre Damian de Allende for at least three months to an ankle injury and are seeing it as an opportunity for youngsters to step up.
De Allende was in sublime form for 63 minutes during the Stormers’ 37-24 Super Rugby win over the Bulls last Saturday before sustaining the injury.
It is a huge blow‚ especially as they also lost Bok centre Juan de Jongh to a long-term knee injury in the pre-season.
But experienced skills coach Paul Feeney shrugged his shoulders at the situation.
“Hey‚ these things happen in rugby‚ you box on and there will be someone else who will step up. I feel gutted for Damian, but someone else will now get an opportunity and that excites me. There are going to be plenty of injuries this year.
“Damian was in great nick‚ probably the best condition he’s ever been in and you saw early on in the game how important some of his touches were.
“He put Nizaam Carr into a hole‚ a quick tap led to a try and his boot worked well.
“He also gave the players around him huge confidence – EW Viljoen [on debut] playing next to him really benefited.
“So it’s a massive loss‚ especially on the back of losing Juan de Jongh in the pre-season.
“But we have some good young centres – Dan du Plessis had a great pre-season and he was unlucky not to be selected last weekend. Dan Kriel came on and played well. We have the athletes here and they’re all working hard,” he said.
“You need competition for places within the group to be successful. We’re gradually growing in competition for places all across the park.
“Huw Jones‚ with his pace‚ is a natural 13 but there is no reason why he can’t play 12. Any midfielder has to be able to play two or three positions anyway these days. We can mix and match on attack and defence and they can interchange in 12 and 13,” Feeney said.
Despite the setback the Stormers showed that their preseason promise of improved skills was on the mark.
They scored five tries against the Bulls through deft passing and interplay – something they would not have achieved in the past few seasons‚ as their attack grew static.
Since Feeney has come on board‚ under instruction from head coach Robbie Fleck to improve decision-making‚ fitness and skills‚ there has been a marked improvement.
Although Feeney has been receiving plaudits for the team’s upskilling‚ Fleck as head coach has steered the process and made time available for them to do the drills.
It is all about repetition and the Stormers players have endured a great deal of it during the pre-season.
“We’ve put hours and hours into aspects such as catch-pass and our timing among runs and passes‚” Feeney said. “We expected it to improve from last season and it has.”