A niggle that Warrick Gelant picked up in the last Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash with Connacht in Galway has ruled him out of the DHL Stormers team for Saturday’s final league match against the Emirates Lions in Cape Town.
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Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman said that Gelant could have played if pushed to do so but he was excited about the man who will line up in the No 15 jersey in Gelant’s place, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
The precociously talented 22-year-old Feinberg-Mngomezulu has played most of his rugby for the Stormers at inside centre, but flyhalf and fullback were the positions that were viewed as his best when he first came into the Stormers senior squad.
“Warrick has a slight niggle and could have played but we decided not to risk him and Sacha deserves a start as he is an exciting player,” said Snyman.
“When Sacha is in space he is devastating and I am not sure even he can predict what he is going to do. It was as a fullback he came on for us late in the last two games and we saw how good he was and I am sure he will embrace the opportunity to play there. It is a position we may need him in during the playoffs so it makes sense to give him a chance to play there.”
Feinberg-Mngomezulu moving to fullback means that the exciting Wandisilie Simelane gets a chance to play at outside centre against the franchise where he played his youth rugby and was first introduced to senior rugby.
“Wandisile is tracking well and has done really well in training for us and in the games he has played. It takes a while to get assimilated into the system, getting to understand the defensive structure etc, but Wandy is getting there and we see him as a big star of the future,” said the Stormers attack coach.
Whether Simelane gets to play in next week’s quarterfinal, wherever it may be, may depend on whether Gelant is ready to return to the last line of defence, something Snyman expects to be the case. Should that happen, then Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the midfield would be an option. Another option could be Ben Loader, who returns to the Stormers squad as a member of the bench after a period out with injury. Although primarily a wing, he was used in the midfield earlier in the season. Talking of the bench, the Stormers have plenty of front-row firepower to call on later in the game as both Frans Malherbe and Joseph Dweba will be playing replacement roles in this game.
Saturday’s match is the 50th appearance in the Stormers jersey for Ben-Jason Dixon, who is part of the same back row configuration that played together in Galway - namely Hacjivah Dayimani at No 8 and Evan Roos at his less familiar position of openside flank.
“It is very special for me, I only found out this week although I knew it must be coming soon and when I told my dad he was also very excited,” said Dixon.
“I found out when Dave (Snyman) put a slide on. It does seem to have come quicker than expected but it is a massive honour for me as I was a big Stormers fan growing up. When they were playing away we used to go to the Spur or another restaurant to watch their games. I have a whole handful of family coming to watch the game.”
Although the Stormers don’t need to win against the Lions to ensure themselves of either a playoff spot or Champions Cup place, Snyman reiterated what he said earlier in the week.
“The first priority of us is still to win the game and all our preparation has gone it that. We know a lot will be coming from the Lions side, but we want to present them with a good challenge,” he said.
TEAM: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Wandisile Simelane, Dan du Plessis, Angelo Davids, Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies, Hacjivah Dayimani, BJ Dixon, Evan Roos, Ruben van Heerden, Salmaan Moerat (captain), Neethling Fouche, Andre-Hugo Venter, Sti Sithole. Replacements: Joseph Dweba, Brok Harris, Frans Malherbe, Adre Smith, Marcel Theunissen, Stefan Ungerer, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Ben Loader.