Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Stormers shuffle things up for Ospreys
IT CAN be viewed as a calculated risk and probably the last match in which the Stormers will have the luxury of shuffling their team ahead of the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-offs.
But they won't take the Ospreys lightly, knowing the Welsh side is only four points behind them on the points table. If the experiment fails tonight (kick-off 7.15 pm) in the DHL Stadium and the home side loses, they could face an uphill struggle to finish among the top four teams at the end of the regular URC season.
The Stormers made a host of changes, most notably at lock, scrumhalf and in the midfield, for their first clash since being knocked out of the
Champions Cup a couple of weeks ago.
A new pairing in Gary Porter and Adre Smith will combine behind the props, while Stefan Ungerer is the scrumhalf to partner Manie Libbok at halfback.
The most exciting change is probably the reunion of Dan du Plessis and Wandisile Simelane as the centres. They've only linked up once before, but it was a brilliant midfield display by them and the Stormers will bank on some more creativity on the attack and solid defending from the pairing.
Rito Hlungwani, Stormers assistant coach, said they are eager to see what the changed team will dish up against the Welsh visitors. But they can't go out thinking it will be an easy game to collect a bonus point win.
“The first thing for us is to win the game, the bonus point will be great,
but we have to execute our plan,” said Hlungwani. “We are playing a team who are a couple of points behind us, so we can't take them lightly and start talking about bonus points and that. We just want to go out and win.”
The Stormers coaches are not too worried about the changes and are confident the players know what is expected of them and the challenge that awaits today.
They've used this opportunity to rope in guys who have played during the season to give them more game time so that by the time the play-offs come, and they are needed, they do
not come into the squad underplayed.
“We are not concerned about them as they are highly-experienced players who have prepared well for the Ospreys ... If we execute that plan against anyone, we can get the desired results. A lot of northern hemisphere teams come with a strong kicking game; if we can negate that, we will be able to execute our plan well.”
A bonus point win over the Ospreys, and Munster losing to the Bulls without picking up points, will see the Stormers leapfrog the current URC champions into fourth place.
By kick-off, the Stormers will know
exactly if they stand a chance of moving into fourth or if they must wait another weekend for the opportunity.
Stormers XV: 15. Warrick Gelant, 14. Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13. Wandisile Simelane, 12. Dan du Plessis, 11. Ben Loader, 10. Manie Libbok, 9. Stefan Ungerer, 8. Evan Roos, 7. Hacjivah Dayimani, 6. Nama Xaba, 5. Gary Porter, 4. Adre Smith, 3. Frans Malherbe (captain), 2. JJ Kotze, 1. Brok Harris.
Bench: 16. Scarra Ntubeni, 17. Kwenzo Blose, 18. Sazi Sandi, 19. Ruben van Heerden, 20. Willie Engelbrecht, 21. Marcel Theunissen, 22. Paul de Wet, 23. Damian Willemse.