Samuels ready to step up to the standards set by Strauss

WHILE the Stormers as a collective have a Super Rugby challenge to conquer when they face the Bulls at Newlands on Saturday, Director of Rugby Gert Smal has a special challenge for hooker Ramone Samuels – to take his game to the next level like Adriaan Strauss has.

The former Springbok captain has been playing like a man skyhigh on confidence, and his form has not only proved a valuable contribution to John Mitchell’s growing Bulls, but it’s also seen his name linked to Rassie Erasmus’ Boks and coming-out-ofretirement talks.

And while Samuels has been solid in open play and when it comes to his general work around the park, especially with ball in hand, he shared the Stormers’ lineout stats – an area that was a real concern earlier this year – since they last met their rivals at Loftus in a game they lost 23-33.

The former Lions forward also shared his talk with Smal.

“Since the Loftus game we’ve been running at 95%, so we’re growing as a lineout unit,” he said.

“Our Director of Rugby actually came up to me and said ‘what stops you from performing like that?’

“That was so motivational for me. Adriaan is such a legend and he’s someone that I’ve looked up to since making the transition from loose forward to hooker.”

“And now I find myself playing against him, and I see that as a huge challenge. He’s feeling refreshed and he’s enjoying his rugby, I can say the same thing.”

Samuels has been enjoying a lot more game time and has been the Stormers’ starting No 2 this season, with Bongi Mbonambi on the injury list and Scarra Ntubeni – fresh from a long-term injury – being eased in on the bench.

“The last time we went up to Loftus things didn’t go our way, so this is definitely a game we want to target from a Stormers point of view,” Samuels explained.

“They’re playing a new expansive game, and that’s a challenge, but we’ll focus on us.”

One of those things that didn’t go the Stormers’ way in Pretoria earlier this season was the driving maul.

The Bulls have been scoring some good tries from the driving maul, and when they hosted the Stormers earlier this season it was no different. They were superb in that department and scored two tries from it, and Stormers assistant coach Russell Winter said although they’re aiming for “an all-round game” rather than just focusing on improving one area, they will have to produce a better performance this weekend.

“It’s not how we want to be identified as a team. But in saying that, our maul must improve,” he said.

“We have improved since that game, we haven’t conceded a maul try since that game. But we’re going to keep working.”

“We know we’re a better team than where we’re currently sitting on the log and we’re trying to put things in place that will put us on a good foot going forward.”