It hasn’t been officially announced yet but the rangy loose-forward Hacjivah Dayimani is on his way back to Cape Town and his return, which could be as soon as the game against the Lions in Johannesburg on 28 February, could shift perceptions on how the Stormers should be playing.
When the Cape side returns to Vodacom United Rugby Championship action at Ellis Park that day they will be looking to bounce off two successive defeats to the Sharks and after a month’s break where they will have done much thinking about the game-plan they should be employing.
When they were overseas earlier in their campaign they played a game that emphasised control and forward muscle, with their version of the Springboks’ bomb squad often engineering a gear shift in the second half that saw them completely dominant and in front at the final whistle.
They could do that because of their depth not only when it comes to front row forwards but particularly at lock.
Whether it was regular skipper Salmaan Moerat starting with JD Schickerling or with Ruben van Heerden, there was always plenty of both grunt in the form of Adre Smith or the lineout prowess and influential presence of the alternative No 5 who didn’t start to be added later in the game.
It worked a charm for instance when they scored their first ever away win over Munster in Limerick where they recovered from a slow start and came from a big deficit.
That’s not to forget Connor Evans, who excelled at age-group level and is highly rated by John Dobson as a promising second row forward even if Stormers fans may yet to be completely convinced. Evans has also been used as a blindside flank, particularly on those days when Ben-Jason Dixon has been rested or away with the Boks.
DIXON ENJOYS PLAYING LOCK
Mention of Dixon cues the return of Dayimani, who was released early from his Stormers contract, as he still had a season to run when he left at the end of the 2023/24 season to take up a contract with the French club, Racing 92.
Dayimani has done well in France, but it is understood that he has elected not to renew and has now been released to return to the Cape to help the Stormers get through a lock crisis.
Lock crisis? But Dayimani is a flank or No 8? Yes he is, but Dixon can also play lock, and played there regularly for the Stormers earlier in his career. Indeed, the memory throws up images of him playing there in a good win over the Vodacom Bulls in a Christmas game in Cape Town a few years back.
An uncompromising @Vodacom #URC derby in Durban. #inittogether pic.twitter.com/3M2gkDooBA
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) February 2, 2026
Dixon said in a recent press conference that he would love to play lock again and now should be his opportunity because Moerat is out injured for another few months and Van Heerden sustained an injury to his finger after it was hooked into an opposing players shorts during a lineout towards the end of the Durban derby against the Sharks.
Van Heerden has had to undergo surgery and will be out until April while the earliest the Stormers are likely to see Moerat again is May. That is the beginning of the business end of the competition and it might prove timely if the Stormers need to return to the control they showed on their early season tours when they head to Europe to play what could be crucial games against Ulster and Cardiff in the last weeks of the league phase of the URC.
DAYIMANI’S X-FACTOR COULD SPARK THE ATTACK IN HOME RUN
Both those teams are currently challenging for places in the top four, the bracket that is coveted on the final log due to it bringing home ground advantage in the quarterfinals.
But before that the Stormers have a run of home games following two tough away derbies on the highveld and with bonus points a premium the opposition they face could see some merit in the Stormers playing the attacking game that propelled them to fifth last year by seeing them pick up a maximum of 20 points from their last four games. Meaning they scored a try scoring bonus point every time.
Dixon moving to lock, a move that could help his Bok chances as national coach Rassie Erasmus has pinpointed a potential lack of depth in that area and an ability to swing between lock and flank will also make Dixon a better bench option, and Dayimani back in the No 7 will bring a more mobile dynamic to the Stormers pack.
WORKED ON DARK ARTS IN FRANCE
If Dayimani is still the same player who was part of the team that won the inaugural URC title back in 2022 he will also bring a new dynamic to the Stormers’ attacking game as he is one of the best linking forwards, meaning between forwards and backs, on the planet.
Indeed, he is a player who could easily be a back, and given the value Erasmus places on hybrid players, Dayimani could even play himself into national consideration.
That might seem odd given that Dayimani ostensibly left for France because he wasn’t getting a look in at national level, but one of the reasons he also left was because he wanted to get schooled into the darker arts of forward player, grow his grunt aspect if you like, under former England coach and Leinster senior assistant Stuart Lancaster, who was then coaching Racing (he is now in charge at Connacht).
Only those who watch the Top 14 regularly will know if he has done that, but if he has grown his work rate in the tighter aspects of tight-loose and still retains the explosiveness and ball skills that made him special, then his return could be a massive boost for the Stormers. Having him at No 7 and Dixon in another role certainly won’t be new to them.
The loss of two locks is a big blow to the Stormers but provided Dixon, Smith and Schickerling stay fit and Evans makes use of his opportunity, and also remembering that Deon Fourie, Keke Morabie and Ruan Ackermann are all good loose-forwards who will return to the roster, director of rugby Dobson’s creative way of trying to get around the lock problem could pay off handsomely.
If it brings a blend of what worked a few months ago with what worked a year ago then the Stormers’ chances of ending in the top two will have been enhanced.