Moerat bides his time for that big break

Stormers lock and former SA U20 captain Salmaan Moerat was inspired by playing in front of nearly 50,000 fans at Cape Town Stadium last weekend‚ but he knows his journey is only beginning.

Moerat‚ 20‚ is one of an embarrassment of lock riches at the union and is still fighting his way into a match-day squad that could include Bok second rowers Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit‚ Bok tourist JD Schickerling and Currie Cupwinning captain Chris van Zyl.

The former Paarl Boys High scholar is certainly good enough to excel now‚ although he might have to wait a little longer given the list of players he’s competing against.

“It was a highlight of my career to play in front of such a big crowd‚ it’s a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life‚” he said of last weekend’s 33-28 win over the Bulls in “Super Hero Sunday” at Cape Town Stadium.

“The competition is of course very healthy in the group.

“As a youngster in the side I just want to keep learning‚ and if I get that opportunity I want to grab it with both hands. I’m just going to focus on the team.

“But I’d like to improve on my carries and my conditioning; that’s where these warm-up games help a lot. I’d like to see the team prosper this year and I believe there’s a lot of potential.

“We’ve got a good balance of young talent and experience.

“There’s a lot of good energy‚ so I believe we’ve got the right ingredients to do better.”

Stormers coach Robbie Fleck named a 28-man squad to face Boland in the Stormers’ final Super Rugby warm-up and Moerat has been left out after playing in both the previous warmup games.

Stormers: 15 Craig Barry; 14 JJ Engelbrecht‚ 13 Ruhan Nel‚ 12 Damian de Allende‚ 11 SP Marais; 10 Damian Willemse‚ 9 Justin Phillips; 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe‚ 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit‚ 6 Siya Kolisi (capt)‚ 5 JD Schickerling‚ 4 Cobus Wiese‚ 3 Frans Malherbe‚ 2 Bongi Mbonambi‚ 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon‚ 17 Corne Fourie‚ 18 Neethling Fouche‚ 19 Chris van Zyl‚ 20 Jaco Coetzee‚ 21 Juarno Augustus‚ 22 Kobus van Dyk‚ 23 Herschel Jantjies‚ 24 Jean-Luc du Plessis‚ 25 Joshua Stander‚ 26 Dan du Plessis‚ 27 Dan Kriel‚ 28 Nico Leonard.

As a youngster I just want to keep learning‚ and if I get that chance I want to grab it with both hands