Senatla ‘can go for 80 minutes’ for Stormers
AFTER a tumultuous Friday night in Belfast last week, there was at least some good news on the injury front for the Stormers yesterday ahead of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship showdown with the Sharks in Durban (2pm kickoff).
John Dobson – who won the SA Rugby Coach of the Year award yesterday – bemoaned the “extraordinary” circumstances that he had to deal with in the 35-5 loss to Ulster, where two players withdrew on match-day and another three had to go off within the opening quarter.
One of those injured players, Evan Roos, was nearly in tears after a double tackle from fellow Springbok Duane Vermeulen and Ulster flank Nick Timoney left him clutching his right knee, with Dobson saying afterwards that he would be surprised if his star No 8 would play for the Stormers again this season.
But yesterday, backline coach Dawie Snyman said that the knee problem is not as bad as initially thought – although Roos won’t feature against the Sharks.
“Evan has gone for his scan, and luckily it’s not too serious – it’s his medial ligament that was injured, so at least it’s not the anterior cruciate ligament,” Snyman said.
“It’s actually positive news for us. He will be out for a while, but not too long. I don’t think he will need an operation. If everything goes well, he should be back for the playoff games at the end of the season.
“Clayton (Blommetjies) is doing well and trained with us today. He woke up with an infection, and we didn’t want to take a chance.
“We took Junior (Pokomela) with in the hope that he would come through and be fine to play, but he didn’t pass the tests and had to withdraw. But he trained well today.
“JJ (Kotze) and Jean-Luc (du Plessis) have concussion, so they won’t be available this weekend.
“We lost our hooker, No 6, 8, 10 early in the game, and we had to make changes and that put us under pressure in certain areas.
“But the guys also got an opportunity to learn from that, and there were mistakes made by the team that wasn’t just down to the injuries. Everyone will come out of that stronger, and getting used to Ulster and the conditions there.”
So, no Roos, Kotze and Du Plessis, but Pokomela and Blommetjies are available, and so too are flyhalf Manie Libbok and wing Seabelo Senatla.
Snyman said that Libbok – who was injured against London Irish a few weeks ago – completed yesterday’s training session, and while he must still do a few more tests, he was “looking good” for Kings Park.
Senatla has been out for about four months with a chest muscle injury, but will add a new dynamic to the Stormers back-three that is already missing the rested Damian Willemse and the injured Leolin Zas – while Angelo Davids is also set to return from a hamstring problem.
“Seabelo is a great player to have in the squad. He always brings a lot of energy and lifts the team about 10%, always positive. We are really glad to have him back. He is a good player who has been a bit unlucky with injuries, but he will definitely drive the energy for us,” Snyman said.
“Seabelo is naturally fit and has worked unbelievably hard to get back. A guy who has played Sevens for so long, in terms of mental toughness … I am positive that he can go for 80 minutes if he needs to.”