Pack justifies Stormers’ optimism ahead of Toulon battle

His team had just lost their fourth game in six starts but there was reason for DHL Stormers coach John Dobson’s optimism after his team’s narrow defeat to the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban last week - and a lot of it revolves around what can be described as his team’s banker.

The Cape franchise has been through a couple of little mini crisis situations around their front row depth in recent times.

The injury that has kept returning hero Steven Kitshoff out since September and threatens to possibly end his career, coupled with further injuries to the likes of Sti Sithole and Lizo Gqoboko has caused much scratching of heads.

However, somehow what the Stormers have almost always got right in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign is their scrum.

Arguably the only thing with that phase of play that has gone wrong is that referees haven’t always rewarded them for their dominance, such as in the URC opener against the Ospreys in Bridgend and arguably also the most recent game against the Sharks at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.

The Sharks were missing Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi, and the role of a hooker in scrum success is often underestimated, but it was still unexpected that the Stormers would dominate the Sharks unit to the extent that they did.

Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani did not want to talk about the potential impact on the Stormers’ quest for victory of the referee’s failure to award the number of scrum penalties that might have been anticipated, but he was really pleased with how it went.

The scrum will again be a big weapon when the Stormers face Toulon in their first Investec Champions Cup fixture of the new season, and Hlungwani bases a lot of his enthusiasm around the impact made by veteran Ali Vermaak.

The loosehead has long been one of South Africa’s most underrated players, with his failure to push on to challenge for higher honours possibly being rooted more in the injury problems that have kept him from playing than his ability in his primary role of scrumming.

“Ali has been around a long time and has always been a very reliable player, I remember him from when I was still playing (for Western Province,” said Hlungwani.

“He was very powerful on the left hand side of the scrum (against the Sharks). From a coaches’ viewpoint we are very happy with the picture that was presented, and how Ali performed. He hasn’t played for a very long time and yet we felt he looked in really good shape. Playing against two Springboks (in Vincent Koch and then Trevor Nyakane) we thought he operated really well.”

WORK NEEDED AT BREAKDOWNS

Of course, no scrumming success comes down to just one player, and Neethling Fouche did well against Ox Nche too, while the Stormers do value Joseph Dweba very highly as a scrumming hooker.

“We thought Joseph was really good in the middle against the Sharks, and Neethling too. They also got a lot of power from the back five,” he said.

Talking of the back five, a few doozy throws aside, the Stormers lineout also gave the Sharks hassles, and that has been the case for much of the season.

Neethling Fouche’s return from Japan has made a big difference to the Stormers’ defensive lineout.

What the Stormers do need to work on though is their play at the breakdowns, where the man they are keenly missing is the ball scavenging openside flank Deon Fourie, who is expected back for the game against the Emirates Lions on 21 December.

“It (our approach at the breakdowns) was something we spoke about at halftime and adjustments were made that improved our performance in the second half,” said the Stormers forwards coach.

The Stormers will be looking for further improvement against a Toulon team they expect to be particularly strong in the set-piece battle at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.

The Stormers are playing this game in Gqeberha because of the clash with the Cape Town Sevens at DHL Stadium over the weekend.