Michael’s Daniel is Fleck’s man
IN a bygone era when Newlands was almost an impenetrable fortress and a young Robbie Fleck was watching rugby from the stands, the Du Plessis brothers, Carel and Michael, were the toast of Cape Town.
Carel was a classy wing who ran down the left touchline with speed and poise. Michael was a playmaker at flyhalf and inside centre, who was ahead of his time in straightening the line and thinking outside of the box.
In those days, Western Province were almost unbeatable, and the Du Plessis siblings played a massive role in the union’s Currie Cup dynasty.
Tomorrow, the sons of these two Newlands greats will start together in the Stormers backline for the first time in Super Rugby when they take on the Cheetahs in the shadow of Table Mountain (kickoff 3pm).
Michael’s son Daniel will make his competition debut at outside centre, and will join his cousin and flyhalf Jean-Luc, Carel’s offspring, in the starting lineup.
Daniel has impressed for WP in the recent Currie Cup qualifiers, and Stormers coach Fleck hopes he can bring some innovation in midfield after cocaptain Juan de Jongh was ruled out with a back problem and Huw Jones suffered a foot injury.
Fleck could have easily stuck with Johnny Kotze at No 13, but he hasn’t performed too well this season. His distribution on the outside has let his teammates down on several occasions, while he has made too many mistakes with ball in hand.
Daniel du Plessis, who has played most of his rugby at inside centre, is a player with plenty of X-factor, and Fleck says he will be able to spark in partnership with Damian de Allende, who showed glimpses of his best form last weekend against the Bulls.
“He’s a good, hard player who runs good lines,” said Fleck of Du Plessis yesterday. “He’s strong in the tackle and in the carry. He’s an exciting player with a bit of X-factor.
“What I like about him is that he is similar to Damian … he wants the ball and wants to take control. He’s a quiet kid behind the scenes, but he’s got a lot of determination. He’s a fighter and it’s a good opportunity for us to give him a run.”
Meanwhile, veteran loose forward Schalk Burger has been ruled out of tomorrow’s clash as well as the Springboks’ upcoming Test series against Ireland after failing to recover from an ankle injury suffered at Loftus last weekend. Sikhumbuzo Notshe replaces him at No 8. Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Daniel du Plessis, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe (captain), 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Oli Kebble. Bench: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Johnny Kotze. Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter (captain), 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Maks van Dyk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Charles Marais. Bench: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Henco Venter, 20 Neill Jordaan, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Nico Lee. Referee: Glen Jackson. Kickoff: 3pm. TV SS1 SS HD1