The DHL Stormers will head off on their crucial Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour on Tuesday boosted by the return from injury of three star backline X-factor players.
While Manie Libbok is still absent and is likely to miss out on the rest of the season, the Springbok duo of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Damian Willemse have been joined in training by the highly promising and influential outside back Suleiman Hartzenberg.
With the Stormers having gone into a three week break off the momentum provided by a hard fought away win against the Bulls, assistant coach Dawie Snyman says having the trio back will further boost the team’s confidence.
“Sacha and Damian have been in and out of the squad in terms of their work load, but last week they put in a full week with us when they weren’t in the national alignment camp,” said Snyman.
“They are players with obvious class so you feel their presence when they are back, not just in terms of what they do on the field, which is important, but also off it.
"They take on leadership roles in team meetings and bring their influence which makes a difference. Suleiman is back from his hand injury and also looks ready to go.”
The Stormers are currently positioned just outside the top eight, which is the bracket for playoff qualification as well as qualification for next season’s Investec Champions Cup.
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Two wins on tour would put them in a strong position as after that they face four home games in succession once they return from the three week break they get after this due to them having been knocked out of the EPCR competitions.
However, Snyman said the Stormers weren’t looking at the two games against Scarlets and Ulster at this moment, and were rather focusing on the first one against Scarlets.
“It is unusual these days to get a chance to prepare for three weeks for a particular opponent so we have made use of that opportunity and we feel well prepared for this game and what to expect,” said the Stormers attack coach.
“The Scarlets have done well this season and we are expecting a tough game. We need to get through this one as winners and then focus on Ulster after that. At this point we are not sure which Wales international players will be back in the Scarlets team, but that does not make too much difference to our preparation as we don’t tend to focus too much on individuals.
“Instead we look at the team systems and how they play, we look at how they attack and how they defend, what holds their ‘D’ together. Obviously the personnel they have available will make some difference to how they apply their game.”
It’s been a while since the Scarlets last saw action too so they’ve had an equal amount of time to prepare for Saturday’s game.
“We know that Scarlets like to attack and we notice they do have a lot of good players in the wide positions so we are expecting them to run at us.”
The Stormers squad for the two game tour to Scarlets and Ulster will be announced at 11am on Tuesday.