‘Wizardry of Warrick’ back for Stormers
THE Stormers will be happy to see Springbok Warrick Gelant thriving on the attack again after the fullback played an influential role in his side’s 25-21 victory over the Sharks this past weekend.
Gelant returned with much fanfare after a season-long stint in France, and after playing an important role in the triumphant inaugural United Rugby Championship (URC) win two years ago, there was the expectation that he would slot in with ease and continue where he left off.
But as with all good players, it takes time to adjust to an environment, and for new players who haven’t played with him before, to adjust to him.
The likes of flyhalf Manie Libbok and utility back Damian Willemse were not at the Stormers when Gelant made his return, and although he has been secure in all other aspects of his play, his magic moments with some of the new teammates took time to manifest. Finally on Saturday at Kings Park, the “wizardry of Warrick” was on display again as he dazzled with his runs, his passing and kicking out of hand – all of that in the absence of his regular teammates Libbok and Willemse.
He was instrumental for his side, fielding high kicks and sparking the attack alongside young Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who has been tipped to walk in the footsteps of Willemse.
“People see the high-profile mistakes like that one pass into touch (a few games ago) in Cape Town, but he has been good all season in terms of his traditional fullback play and driving our game,” Stormers coach John Dobson said.
“His attack against the Sharks was exceptional. He did the key job of a fullback.”
He said it was important to take into account that the Stormers had a No 10 playing his first URC game, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu was only in his fourth game, and Suleiman Hartzenberg has only played a couple at 13.
“He was driving that backline and it was exceptional. It was nice to see that he didn’t make any mistakes for people on social media to say, ‘Why don’t you drop Warrick?’”
Dobson will have a dilemma wth his backline selection for the Bulls clash next weekend at Loftus Versfeld.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Hartzenberg combined well in the midfield to stop Springboks Francois Venter and Lukhanyo Am, but the return of regular inside centre Dan du Plessis and Springbok Willemse could see the combination changed.
Up front, the locks and loose forward combinations can also be a challenge for the Cape side as they look to go another season unbeaten against Jake White’s team.