Stormers ready to lose a fight to win the war
BDobson had no choice but to leave his preferred run-on XV in Cape Town for what is a “must-win” match against the
French giants
rok Harris, in his 42nd professional match, leads the Stormers against Leicester in the opening round of the Investec Champions Cup today. It could get messy for what is a secondstring Stormers side — sent to Leicester in search of a miracle bonus point — but it is a necessary pain if the Stormers are to flourish in Cape Town during the rest of December.
John Dobson’s Stormers host the Champions Cup winners La Rochelle on Saturday in what will be their first match of the season at the DHL Stadium. A week later they battle Jake White’s Bulls, and on December 30 they complete the year with the coastal derby against the Sharks.
It is some finish to the year for the Stormers, and all the planning has centred around making a statement against La Rochelle on December 16, and then trying to stop White’s rampaging Bulls.
Dobson, typically, was buoyant in the build-up to Leicester, despite his squad only arriving in Leicester on Wednesday afternoon. He spoke of the Stormers’ pride and of the adventure of playing away in the Champions Cup against an in-form English Premiership team.
He promised Leicester they would know they were in a game and, the romantic that he is, he suggested that every one of his players believed in turning the seemingly impossible into the possible.
The realist in Dobson knows that Leicester are likely to fear the cold more than the Stormers run-on XV, and he will use today’s match to measure the progress of flyhalf Jurie Matthee, who makes his competition debut against the Springboks’ World Cup winning sharpshooter Handre Pollard.
It won’t get tougher for Matthee, but the former Stellenbosch University captain is the type of character who thrives on pressure, and he will be the wiser for the experience.
The 23-years-old Matthee made his Currie Cup debut last season and played five matches for Western Province. And what adds to the occasion in Leicester is that both he and Pollard played flyhalf for Paarl Gymnasium High School.
Dobson has turned to veterans Harris and Scarra Ntubeni in the front row for stability, and integrated players who are likely to warm the bench against La Rochelle.
The match also sees a first appearance of the season for the 20-year-old Suleiman Hartzenberg after he was hurt in pre-season. Hartzenberg, who played on the wing for the Stormers last season, will play at outside centre, and a strong performance could see him make the match 23 against La Rochelle.
The promising lock Connor Evans will get to log 60 invaluable minutes to his evolving resume.
The Stormers won’t win. Leicester, picking close to their best line-up, are too good to lose to this Stormers line-up, and the victory Dobson will be looking for is in the attitude of his players.
He has vowed that they will turn up and show the necessary mongrel and respect for the Stormers jersey, and if they do that, it ups the ante for those bigger names who stayed behind in Cape Town to prepare for La Rochelle.
Dobson had no choice but to leave his preferred run-on XV in Cape Town for a “must-win” match against the French giants. Home wins are everything in the Champions Cup, and in last season’s competition pool matches the home team lost just once in 16.
The juggling of player resources and the fielding of second-string teams for away matches in the Champions Cup and United Rugby Championship is foreign to South African rugby supporters, but then playing league matches in Cape Town on December 23 and 30 is also foreign.
It is, however, South African rugby’s new landscape, and in the case of the Stormers, there will be times when a team must — in rugby terms — be prepared to lose a fight to win the war.