It is understandable why DHL Stormers director of rugby John Dobson has used the word crisis to describe the situation he faces at loose-forward.
It will be recalled that a drastic reshuffle was necessary for the opening win over Connacht when Evan Roos and Marcel Theunissen were ruled out at the 11th hour, with Riley Norton moved from lock to flank and Louw Nel changing from blindside to openside.
And yet when you look at the Stormers’ match day squad for Saturday’s opening Investec Champions Cup clash with the Bristol Bears at DHL Stadium it is hard not to say the words “Crisis? What crisis?” The Stormers have an all Springbok back row in the form of Paul de Villiers, Siya Kolisi and Evan Roos starting the game, and another Bok in Deon Fourie backing up from the bench.
Most teams would give their eye-teeth to have those players, and yet good though Roos is, Dobson admitted that had the in-form Hacjivah Dayimani not been ruled out with concussion this week, he would have continued in the No 8 jersey that he excelled in against both the Sharks last weekend and Edinburgh before that.
“Given the form he is in, we would have continued with Hacjivah this week, but having a player of the ability of Evan to come in is very fortuitous for us and Evan has returned to full fitness with perfect timing,” said Dobson.
ROOS’ FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE SEASON
Assuming there isn’t another late withdrawal, it will be Roos’ first appearance of the season. There are several other top players yet to make an appearance, including Bok utility forward Ben-Jason Dixon, Ruan Ackermann and Keke Morabe, while Theunissen has undergone an operation following the injury sustained in training in Galway and won’t be playing for three and four months.
“Loose-forward seems to be our injury flashpoint so far this season,” said Dobson.
“I don’t know where Hacjivah is with his return to play protocols but hopefully he will be available next week. We do have a bit of a crisis at loose-forward and we are just lucky that we can still field a side of this quality with Deon Fourie on the bench.
"It’s a good reflection on the depth in our squad (that the loose trio can still look so good when key players are missing) and this is when we start to get tested to see whether we can compete on two fronts (EPCR and URC).”
NO CLARITY YET ON DIXON
Morabe is back in training and so is Ackermann, with both likely to return during the two game spell in the URC that the Stormers will negotiate before the break in the competition for the international window and the Nations Championship games in November.
However, the news around Dixon is less clear as he continues his quest to satisfy the concussion protocols, something he has been doing since he was with the Boks in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
“With BJ there’s no real clarity at this stage. He could be back next week but I think that is unlikely for now as we are heading into a break,” said the Stormers coach.
“Marcel is out long term after his operation. I think it is three or four months. Keke is training again, so is Ruan, and I must say we are looking forward to getting both players back.”
His stint at the Stormers has been plagued by injury so far and he incensed fans of his new team with the card he incurred in the closing stages against Leinster that might have cost the Stormers a place in last season’s URC final, but Dobson remains confident about what Ackermann can bring to the team.
“Ruan is an incredibly underrated player. Unfortunately he has had his injury issues so we haven’t seen him much but he is going to be a very valuable player for us when he is fit.”
NORTON’S ABILITY TO SWITCH IS VALUABLE
Also proving valuable to the Stormers is former Junior Bok captain Norton. Primarily a lock, Norton fitted in well as the blindside flank stop-gap against Connacht.
“We do lack a bit of height in the loose-forwards (due to injury) and Riley’s ability to play on the blindside flank is useful to us as a result. We see him mainly as a high work-rate lock, but he is good cover for loose-forward.”
The utility value of Dixon will also be important when he returns to the playing field as the departures during the off-season of Bok locks Salmaan Moerat and Ruben van Heerden has left the Stormers looking a bit shorn of experience in the position.
Dixon spent much of his early career at the Stormers and Western Province playing lock and has expressed a desire to play there as it will increase his chances of becoming a fixture at Springbok level.
“Touch wood, but we are one injury to someone like JD Schickerling away from having a completely different look to our pack. BJ will be an important lock option for us when he is available,” said Dobson.
The Stormers’ situation at loose-forward is helped by some of the young players who have made statements on the playing field in recent months, one of them being Wandile Malaba, who came on as a replacement against the All Blacks and looks the part.
“We are very happy with Wandile’s progress and he would have played in this game had Evan (Roos) not returned to fitness,” said the coach.