Cornal will bring pace and muscle to the Stormers
WHILE a world-class flyhalf remains the ultimate prize for the Stormers, the acquisition of Cornal Hendricks is definitely a nice coup.
Springbok wing Hendricks has reportedly signed a twoyear deal with Western Province Rugby and will be available for the Stormers from the start of next year’s Super Rugby season. And he is set to be followed by giant lock Pieter-Steph du Toit, who recently revealed that he will not be running out for the Sharks next year.
Hendricks is not only a very good rugby player, who will bring a lot to the table on the field, but he will certainly help Director of Rugby Gert Smal change the perception that there isn’t a place for kids from outside the “big rugby schools” at Western Province and the Stormers.
Hendricks has been one of the many kids who have slipped through the net over the last decade. In 2011 former Stormers coach Allister Coetzee was asked about Hendricks, who was playing outside centre for Boland back then when both Jaque Fourie and Juan de Jongh were injured. “Who?” was his answer at the time.
But Hendricks, who was schooled at Bergriver High School in Wellington, is back in the province, and the speedster, along with the electric Cheslin Kolbe, who attended Brackenfell High, will certainly be an inspiration for young kids from Cape Flats, the platteland and the townships to realise their dreams.
“He is a local player who is coming home to his roots, so it’s an exciting signing for us on many levels. We look forward to seeing him in Stormers colours come 2016,” Smal said in a statement yesterday.
Hendricks, 27, made his Test debut in June 2013, while the 2013 Springbok Sevens Player of the Year was also a key member of the Commonwealth Games Gold medal-winning SA Sevens team last year.
Hendricks is a great finisher and has scored five tries in 11 Tests and one friendly against the World XV for the Springboks. One of those tries was a superb individual effort against the All Blacks after a set move from the lineout in 2014.
So, Hendricks will certainly add that much-needed strike power out wide for the Stormers. He backs himself to beat defenders on the outside, and he has the ability to create a try for himself out of nothing.
But he is also a great defender, having cut his teeth on the Sevens circuit, where you are easily exposed if you shy away from contact. The former Bolander has a big heart and will certainly not be easily run-over by the big Fijian-born wingers in the expanded Super Rugby competition next year.
Hendricks will also be effective in securing ball at the breakdown in the wide areas. Like Seabelo Senatla, Hendricks is strong at the breakdown, and in the new system WP and the Stormers are working on, where individual players need to be more effective in protecting and turning over the ball, he will be mighty effective.
Hendricks is also very good in the air, and at 1.89 metres and 90kg he will certainly add some more muscle to the Stormers back three.
“Cornal is tall and fast, which is what you need out wide at Super Rugby level, and he’s also a proven performer at international level,” Smal said.
With Hendricks boosting the wing stocks, Dillyn Leyds may be able to move back to flyhalf where he made a name for himself as a schoolboy at Bishops. Leyds finished as the Stormers’ top try-scorer this year, but he may be much more effective in the No 10 jersey or as back-up for Kolbe at fullback.
Hendricks will certainly be an inspiration for young kids from Cape Flats, the platteland and the townships to realise their dreams.