Fleck hopes Kobus can bring some ‘mongrel’
THE Stormers will be hoping that flank Kobus van Dyk will give them a bit of mongrel and a bit of bite at the breakdowns against the Hurricanes.
The Stormers were outplayed at the breakdowns in their 50-point thrashings against the Crusaders and Highlanders, and coach Robbie Fleck says Van Dyk has been brought in or a specific purpose.
On the selection of Kobus van Dyk, Fleck said: “I feel that Siya and Notshe and Nemo (Nizaam Carr) all play a pretty similar game and they’re pretty effective with it. But we need someone who can do the dirty work for us and free up the likes of Siya and Nemo.”
“He (Van Dyk) is also a great lineout option and he’s a hard-working player. He doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty and looking after the breakdowns. So he gives us that balance that we’re looking for in the loose trio. We need someone to secure us possession and do a lot of hard graft on the ground to release other players.”
Former Highlanders centre Shaun Treeby will make his first start for the Stormers at No 12 tomorrow, while Dewaldt Duvenage will start at scrumhalf in the place of Jano Vermaak, who moves to the bench.
Siya Kolisi is back at blindside flank with Van Dyk getting his first start on the openside, and Chris van Zyl returns from a week out with concussion to take his place in the second row alongside Jan de Klerk.
In the front row props Wilco Louw and Alister Vermaak will make their first starting appearance together, while props Caylib Oosthuizen and Oli Kebble are new additions on the bench, along with lock JD Schickerling, who may get his first opportunity for the Stormers this season.
Earlier in the week, Fleck made it as clear as can be that he wasn’t planning on retreating back to old ways, and yesterday he again said that they were going to stick to his (attacking rugby) guns.
“I said it earlier in the week that we’re not going to change where we’re heading in terms of our ambition to grow the team and in terms of how we want to play. Obviously the conditions require us to be tactically smart and we’re going to have to make good decisions,” Fleck said.