Stormers out to breathe fire in ‘final’
WITH the Stormers approaching their United Rugby Championship match at Newport against the Dragons with the goal of emptying the tank, we have good reason to believe that the Capetonians are looking to produce their performance of the tournament so far.
After their match against Edinburgh ended in a 20-20 draw in the Scottish capital last weekend, Stormers coach John Dobson said they would go all out in today’s clash at Rodney Parade (8.35pm kickoff).
With this being their last match before they go into a six-week break, the South Africans won’t be lacking in the motivation department.
In their outing against Edinburgh, they produced a pleasing performance as they not only looked good on attack in the first half – something they had also showed glimpses of in previous games – but they also defended soundly.
Another stand-out feature in the game was them putting up an 80-minute performance.
Dobson has said that a bonus-point win is the goal against the Dragons, and if they can achieve that, it will do a lot for their confidence after their early struggles in the competition.
The Stormers have also been boosted by the return of some of their first-choice players, which is another factor that should have them feeling positive heading into today’s encounter.
Loose forward Junior Pokomela will make his Stormers debut against the Dragons, and his inclusion in the loose trio is the only change to the forward pack that started last week.
In the backline, though, there are five changes.
The fit-again pairing of scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer and flyhalf Manie Libbok are back in the run-on side. In midfield, Dan du Plessis and Ruhan Nel return, while wing Leolin Zas completes the back three.
Dobson said that his team will be looking to end the first quarter of their campaign on a high.
“We have been competitive in every game on this tour, and we want to end it with our best performance yet,” he said.
“We know it will take 80 minutes of accurate execution against a tough Dragons side, but the team is excited to give it a full crack.
“We have some talented players coming in this week, and we are looking forward to seeing what they can do out there.”
Stormers Team
15 Warrick Gelant 14 Leolin Zas 13 Ruhan Nel 12 Dan du Plessis 11 Edwill van der Merwe 10 Manie Libbok 9 Stefan Ungerer 8 Evan Roos 7 Willie Engelbrecht 6 Junior Pokomela 5 Salmaan Moerat (captain) 4 Ernst van Rhyn 3 Neethling Fouché 2 Scarra Ntubeni 1 Brok Harris
Replacements
16 JJ Kotze 17 Kwenzo Blose 18 Sazi Sandi 19 Justin Basson 20 Marcel Theunissen 21 Paul de Wet 22 Tim Swiel 23 Juan de Jongh