Carr revs into Duane’s spot
Groom starts at scrumhalf
NIZAAM Carr will pack down at No 8 while halfbacks Nic Groom and Demetri Catrakilis are set for a recall when the Stormers take on the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday (kick-off 8.35am). “Nizaam is our next-best No 8 and, at this point in time, I think he will start there,” coach Allister Coetzee told reporters yesterday via a teleconference from the Stormers’ base in Queenstown, on New Zealand’s South Island. The opportunity for Carr to reunite with the Stormers No 8 jersey for the first time since the 2013 season-finale has been granted by captain Duane Vermeulen’s compulsory one-match break, in line with SA Rugby’s World Cup resting plan.
The Bishops old boy has started the last three matches and his shift to the tail of the scrum will leave a vacancy at openside flanker that Coetzee said would be filled by Siya Kolisi or Schalk Burger.
“I just have to decide whether Michael Rhodes starts or plays off the bench,” said the Stormers coach. Rhodes has been nursing a knee injury since the end of last month but Coetzee was very pleased to have the versatile forward back in full training yesterday.
“The right thing may be to play Mikey off the bench with Siya moving to six and Schalk at seven, or vice versa.”
This goes against what the coach said last week when he underlined the importance of a balanced back row that wasn’t topheavy with linking loosies, such as Carr and Burger. Don’t be surprised if Rhodes resumes duty at blindside flanker with Burger adding punch off the bench.
Regardless of which two flankers lend their shoulder in support of the props at scrum time, Carr, Groom and Catrakilis will for the first time start in the Stormers 89-10 axis. While it’s a combination that is new to Super Rugby, they do have the experience of running on for Western Province in last year’s Currie Cup final, and running off with the trophy.
Louis Schreuder and Kurt Coleman are set to make way for the return of Groom and Catrakilis in a move that Coetzee said is not a reaction to the Stormers’ first loss of the season. “I’m going to go back to the tried combination that we used at the beginning of the season.
“It’s got nothing to do with the loss against the Chiefs (in round five) – we wanted to give Louis and Kurt an opportunity to start, and I think the Chiefs game was the right time to make that rotation. But I definitely think I’ll go back to Nic and Demetri for this weekend.”
Schreuder has been cleared of a concussion suffered during the Chiefs clash, but he failed to produce the tactical kicking game that is deemed by some to be his unique advantage over Groom in the competition for the No 9 jersey.
Coetzee hinted that tactical nous may be the reason for the change at flyhalf this week – while Coleman is the more fluid attacking option, Catrakilis is more adept at utilising the depth of the field to break down defences.
“It’s about the challenge that we’re facing from the Highlanders this week,” said Coetzee. “The Forsyth Barr Stadium is a completely enclosed venue and the plan that we’ve got, I think we could find good space in behind them.”