The DHL Stormers sustained a bit of a blow to their chances of beating Connacht in Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship semifinal at DHL Stadium when both of the two star players under injury clouds were ruled out of the fixture.
Ace openside flank Deon Fourie tweaked a hamstring in last week’s 33-21 win over the Vodacom Bulls in the quarterfinal. He was given until Friday’s captain’s practice to prove his fitness but clearly he decided against risking it as he was not in the team announced by head coach John Dobson afterwards.
Neither is lock Marvin Orie, and as Gary Porter, who’d normally stand in for Orie, has not come in as Orie’s replacement and is also not playing for Western Province in the Carling Currie Cup match against the Griffons in Welkom later in Friday it would appear that the Cape franchise has been dealt a double injury blow in the second row during the course of the week.
Ben-Jason Dixon, who has played most of the season as a blindside flank, comes into the lock position as Orie’s replacement, with Ruben van Heerden switching into Orie’s No 5 jersey to accommodate Dixon at No 4. That is the position Dixon played when the Stormers comfortably beat the Bulls in a URC derby at DHL Stadium shortly before Christmas so it’s not like he hasn’t played big games in that position before.
Orie left the field towards the end of the most recent clash with the Bulls complaining of a sore shoulder. He was able to train on Tuesday but reported for work on Wednesday complaining that his shoulder was sore again and he consulted a specialist later that day.
Connor Evans has done well for WP at Currie Cup level and now gets a chance to transfer that form into the URC by playing off the bench in the semifinal. Marcel Theunissen, man of the match in the Loftus win over the Bulls in the league stages, is back on the bench as cover for Willie Engelbrecht, who moves into the starting team in Fourie’s No 6 jersey after being among the reserves for the quarterfinal.
BENCH MOVES TO 5-3
Coach John Dobson has changed his bench configuration, moving away from the six/two split between forwards and backs to the more conventional five/three split. It looks as if there might have been a few late curve-balls thrown the Stormers week in the buildup as Jean-Luc du Plessis, names as the WP captain for the trip to Welkom for Friday afternoon’s game, is among the replacements, with the other backline reserves being scrumhalf Paul de Wet and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
“We are thrilled to be hosting another semifinal and with another big crowd coming out, we want to repay the incredible support we enjoy with a fitting performance,” said Dobson.
“While it is disappointing not to have Deon and Marvin in the team, we have every confidence in the players who have come in. They’ve all proven their worth this season. It will be another great occasion at the DHL Stadium and we hope to make our supporters proud.”
The changes necessitated to the Stormers team that won so well last week are a vindication of the focus that Dobson has put into improving the franchise’s depth during the course of the season. As he said during the week, he might have been a bit more panicky at the prospect of going into this game without two important forwards this time last year.
TEAM:
Damian Willemse, Angelo Davids, Ruhan Nel, Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies, Evan Roos, Hacjivah Dayimani, Willie Engelbrecht, Ruben van Heerden, Ben-Jason Dixon, Frans Malherbe, Joseph Dweba, Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: JJ Kotze, Ali Vermaak, Neethling Fouche, Connor Evans, Marcel Theunissen, Paul de Wet, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.