A challenge or an opportunity? It was a reasonable question to ask after watching the DHL Stormers scrum getting the team out of some tricky situations during last weekend’s closely fought Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Connacht.
It was perhaps a bit underplayed in the aftermath of a game where Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s scintillating three tries, the injury sustained by Stormers star openside flank Deon Fourie that has put him out for the rest of the season and the home team’s poor defence were the main talking points, but it was a big day for the future of the Stormers’ scrum culture.
Joseph Dweba, probably their best scrumming hooker, was left out for rotational purposes at the start of the buildup week, but director of rugby John Dobson might have made a different decision had he known then that first-choice Springbok tighthead Frans Malherbe was going to join the experienced Neethling Fouche in being unavailable to play.
Fouche is out due to the suspension he was given by a URC disciplinary committee after he was red carded in the second half of the defeat to Ulster in Belfast in round 14.
If you want to see the normally affable Dobson take on the killer glare of the psycho Jack Nicholson character from the 1970s horror movie, The Shining, try to engage him on that subject.
In addition to the killer look, you will get a look of sheer frustration, a shake of the head and plenty of sarcasm about what Fouche should have done to avoid “the completely justified card” (meant for ironic effect), like “dig a hole in the ground.”
Former Ireland international Bernard Jackman said on a podcast this week that the officiating in the URC is getting worse, and Dobson wouldn’t be the only coach who might have been nodding his head in agreement.
CHANCE FOR SANDI TO DEVELOP
But what is done is done and the upshot is that the Stormers will be without Fouche for another two games at the precise time he should have been most needed.
For the back injury that ruled Malherbe out before last Thursday’s final training session will keep Malherbe out for at least another week and probably longer.
“Frans is definitely not training so he won’t be available for selection this week,” said Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani earlier in the week.
According to Dobson, who was speaking on the eve of the Connacht game, Malherbe has been struggling with his posture going into the scrums for a while: “He could be back next week, he could be out for a while, it is one of those sorts of injuries.”
If Malherbe is out for the rest of the season it could justify Dobson’s comment that “It might be disastrous (for us)” as a strong Stormers scrum will be needed in the playoffs should the Stormers, as seems likely, get there.
Certainly in the short term there’s a hole left through Fouche’s absence and it is a good thing for the Stormers that their versatile 40-year-old would-be-coach Brok Harris appears to be so evergreen.
It was Harris who ended up being the onfield leader of the Stormers for the crucial final minutes against Connacht following Fourie’s departure from the field (regular captain Salmaan Moerat had already been replaced).
However, Dobson did say when announcing the team for the Connacht game that Malherbe’s direct replacement, Sazi Sandi, was a player who maybe deserved to have played more than he has in recent times.
The East London born tighthead first announced himself when he was the star of a good scrumming effort in the Loftus win over the Vodacom Bulls in the inaugural URC season.
Quite a fuss was made over Sandi then, and rightly so as he would only have been 23 at the time, but he was injured soon after that and anyway the Stormers when at full strength had two excellent experienced tightheads on their books in Malherbe and Fouche.
He subsequently became a bit of a forgotten man before doing well when called into the most recent north/south derby against the Bulls to be played in Cape Town.
DOBSON HAS PLANS FOR HIM
Dobson though has plans for him, he sees him as a player with a bright future, and at the age of just 26, young for a No3, he is still developing.
With the scrum effectively winning the game for the Stormers after their poor defence got them into trouble, Sandi vindicated the coach’s belief in him and Dobson will be confident he can provide further vindication in Saturday’s crucial game against Benetton.
Sandi was not the only young prop to play a big role against Connacht.
Young loosehead Vernon Matongo, initially from Zimbabwe but in a rugby sense a product of Northwood College in Durban North which was the alma mater of Springboks such as Hugh Reece-Edwards, Warren Brosnihan and Craig Davidson, plus Wales international Andy Marinos, also made his mark when he came on as a replacement.
It was the 23-year-old’s first appearance in a URC game after he had made his debut in an overseas Investec Champions Cup game and he gave a glimpse of why he is in the forefront of the several young props that are on his books that Dobson is excited about.
RITO EXCITED ABOUT VERNON
Not that the ease with which he slotted into a scrum that was down a man in the final stages of the Connacht game surprised Hlungwani.
“We have very tough scrumming sessions at the Stormers, as you know, and Vernon has really excelled in those and put up his hands,” said Hlungwani.
“Vernon did really well. He has a good work rate for a loosehead prop and l look forward to seeing more and more of him (in a Stormers jersey).”
Of course another player from the Kwa-Zulu/Natal school system, Bok capped Ntuthuko Nchunu, will be joining Matongo to boost the Stormers depth in that position next season, but in the meantime he can make full use of the opportunity presented by veteran Harris having to help out on the other side of the scrum to make himself part of the loosehead conversation for next season.
The Stormers team for the Benetton game will be announced on Friday.