The man that Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus probably considers his fourth flyhalf looks set to remind us what he can do in that position during the opening weeks of the new Vodacom United Rugby Championship season.
Damian Willemse, who has been out injured since May, has been included in the 29-man DHL Stormers squad that flew out from Cape Town on Tuesday for a three match tour that starts with the match against Ospreys in Swansea on Saturday night. With both his regular starting No 10 Manie Libbok and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (also injured currently) away on Bok duty, coach John Dobson needs someone to play flyhalf and he has hinted that Willemse may be the man.
Willemse did tell the audience at the recent Stormers launch function that he will be ready to play against the Ospreys, but as he didn’t play in the hastily arranged final warmup game against the Airlink Pumas in Nelspruit last Wednesday, we could see him play the first match off the bench before moving into the No 10 jersey against Zebre a week later.
Jurie Matthee, who played quite a bit for Western Province in the recent Currie Cup season and is considered a fine prospect, will be the second flyhalf on tour and those who remember his outstanding game against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road at the start of last season’s Investec Champions Cup campaign will agree that he can do the job. He was also excellent, with Feinberg-Mngomezulu alongside him in the decision-making axis at inside centre, in the URC win over the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban in February.
WILLEMSE WILL SETTLE DOBBO’S NERVES
But having the experience and class of Willemse to call on should settle Dobson’s nerves a bit given that the progress made by some of his young players has not helped him as the Boks are absent from this tour - he wouldn’t have expected Ben-Jason Dixon and Feinberg-Mngomezulu to be away before the international season started.
He’s also of course without injured Boks in the form of Steven Kitshoff and Evan Roos, both of whom will be back later in the season, plus scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies. Hacjivah Dayimani, who was a form of MVP in many games because of the X-factor he brings on attack, has also left for France, further denuding his loose-forward resources.
On the positive side though Dave Ewers, formerly Exeter Chiefs and Ulster, has joined on a short-term contract to bolster the back row resources in the absence initially of Roos and Dixon, while Junior Springbok Louw Nel has obviously impressed the Stormers coaches as he is in the tour group. Keke Morabe is also back from his injury and Dobson rates him highly, and ditto Hendre Stassen, who can play both second row and flank and should be one of the players to benefit from a momentum perspective of the Currie Cup being played in the off-season window.
OPTIONS AT LOCK
The domestic competition also gave Wandesile Simelane, the former Lions and Bulls centre, an opportunity to bed down into the WP/Stormers playing style and culture, while in the final game of the Currie Cup season we saw the return of the influential and massive JD Schickerling to WP colours. He followed up that appearance against Griquas with game time against the Pumas in the warmup game so should be ready to go against the Ospreys.
However, even in the absence of Bok alternate captain and Stormers regular skipper Salmaan Moerat, the Stormers look well covered at lock, with Ruben van Heerden, Adre Smith and Stassen completing the complement.
Dobson has gained an extra Bok due to Andre-Hugo Venter’s first appearance in national colours in July, while the fine tactical scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage made an unexpected return to WP colours during the Currie Cup and is now continuing that by being part of a Stormers squad that includes two other players in his position in the form of Paul de Wet and Stefan Ungerer. The latter always comes into the selection mix when the Boks are in the northern hemisphere, where the conditions tend to suit his tactical game, and ditto Duvenage after his time spent with the Italian team, Benetton.
At centre the Stormers have Dan du Plessis and the fit again Ruhan Nel as the likely starting midfield against the Ospreys, although Willemse could play there too. Simelane should get game time at outside centre at some point of the tour.
Warrick Gelant’s presence in the group should preclude Willemse for now from playing the position he mostly plays for the Boks, and which he is likely to return to on the end of year tour, namely fullback.
Jean-Luc du Plessis is in the group to fulfil a utility back role, although these days he looks more likely to be used as an inside centre than as a No 10.
There’s no Ben Loader for now, so we should presume he’s injured, but Leolin Zas is back to bolster the wing stocks, and of course the still very young but hugely talented Suleiman Hartzenberg, who might be destined to be a centre when he matures, has done well there in the past.
In fact, the more you look at the squad the more you come to the realisation that Dobson is spoilt for options in some areas, which considering the Boks who are absent says something positive about the depth that has been created.
It will be a tough tour though, and the Stormers will be mindful of the fact that they are starting out at the home ground of the one team that beat them in Cape Town in the URC last season. Apart from being thin at prop, where the evergreen Brok Harris, also the scrum coach, has been pressed into playing on, the biggest potential obstacle to the Stormers is their lack of match readiness after the SA Rugby decision to postpone the first round derbies to accommodate the Carling Currie Cup final threw a curve ball into Dobson’s planned on-field preparation.
The match day squad for the Stormers’ first game will be announced on Friday.
DHL Stormers touring squad: Adre Smith, Andre-Hugo Venter, Angelo Davids, Brok Harris, Damian Willemse, Dan du Plessis, Dave Ewers, Dewaldt Duvenage, Hendre Stassen, JD Schickerling, Jean-Luc du Plessis, JJ Kotze, Joseph Dweba, Jurie Matthee, Keke Morabe, Leolin Zas, Leon Lyons, Louw Nel, Marcel Theunissen, Neethling Fouche, Paul de Wet, Ruben van Heerden, Ruhan Nel, Sazi Sandi, Stefan Ungerer, Sti Sithole, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Wandesile Simelane, Warrick Gelant.