Bok players in Stormers and Cheetahs face-off
Stormers and Springbok wing Dillyn Leyds will not be thinking about personal duels when his side take on the Cheetahs in a Super Rugby clash in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
Leyds‚ who featured off the bench in each of the three recent Tests against France‚ is likely to face Bok teammate Raymond Rhule at the weekend.
Rhule also made his Test debut as the Boks romped to a 3-0 series win over France‚ starting all three matches ahead of Leyds.
“When you’re with the Springboks, you have a common goal‚ you back each other and help one another on and off the field‚” Leyds said. “But back at our individual unions, we will have a full go at one another.
“It’s not really a one-on-one battle [with Rhule] because there are 14 other players on the field that we need to look after. We need to make sure we are well prepared to deal with them.”
Leyds admits that his first taste of Test rugby has given him more confidence‚ which can filter back into his play at Super Rugby level.
He also gleaned intelligence about Cheetahs coach Franco Smith’s thinking.
Smith is the Bok attack coach and Leyds has been able to observe his methods at first hand‚ which could assist the Stormers in their preparations.
“Obviously, being part of the Springbok set-up for the first time was pretty special and it has given me a lift‚” Leyds said. “It’s good to have come away with a series win‚ but that is done and we move on.
“Here at the Stormers we hope to have six more weeks in the competition‚ starting in Bloemfontein this weekend. It’s always been a difficult game for us and it will be again this weekend. Having worked with Franco [Smith] for the past month‚ you do get to understand the feel he has for the game and how he wants to play.
“But it will be a little different with the Cheetahs with the type of players they have. It’s also one thing knowing what they might do‚ but another thing to try and stop it. So we will have to do our homework again and make sure we’re on top of everything.”
Bulls coach Nollis Marais will have to make minor adjustments to his backline ahead of their Super Rugby trip to the Sharks at Kings Park on Friday.
Wingers Jamba Ulengo and Travis Ismaiel will miss the match and Marais is expected to name Warrick Gelant at No15 and the Bok duo of Jan Serfontein and Jesse Kriel at No 12 and 13 when he announces the squad at Loftus on Wednesday.
Ulengo and Ismaiel are in the final stages of rehabilitation after knee injuries. Other wingers‚ Jade Stiglingh (broken cheekbone) and Rabs Maxwane (concussion)‚ have been ruled out with injuries sustained during the SuperSport Challenge match against the Lions last week.
For Maxwane‚ this is the second concussion injury of the season and the medical team has given him a mandatory sixweek layoff.
In other injury news‚ Handré Pollard’s return has been put on hold for at least a week because of inflammation to his injured ankle. Hanro Liebenberg‚ Edgar Marutlulle and Martin Dreyer remain long-term casualties. /