Malherbe’s back in the nick of time

THE embattled Stormers have received a boost with the news that tighthead prop Frans Malherbe is set to make his first appearance of the campaign this weekend.

Scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage and wing JJ Engelbrecht are also set to return to the squad for Saturday’s clash against the Sharks in Durban‚ which is a must-win game for the Cape Town side.

The Stormers have lost five out of eight matches in 2018 and need to earn some valuable away points before a run of five home games.

Two recent losses against the Bulls in Pretoria (23-33) and the Lions in Johannesburg (31-52) have been particularly poor displays.

That has been more concerning than the results.

“There are guys back at training who have not played this season‚ so some of them will play for [Western Province coach] John Dobson in the first National Provincial Challenge game [against Eastern Province]‚” Stormers assistant coach Paul Feeney said.

“But we got three or more people to choose from‚ which will be good. Jean-Luc du Plessis needs a week with John Dobson obviously‚ but we would like to think that JJ Engelbrecht‚ Dan Kriel and Duvies [Duvenage] will be back. We have been a bit short on numbers at times.

“Frans [Malherbe] is good to go‚ so we are certainly in a better spot.”

The Sharks are similarly under pressure after losing 40-10 at home to the Bulls last weekend‚ and will be itching to make amends.

“I don’t read much into the Sharks performance against the Bulls‚” said Feeney.

“They will be disappointed and their coaches will have had a few things to say. As a result they will training extra hard‚ so it’s not really a good thing for us.” —