DHL Stormers coach John Dobson has admitted that he was a bit torn when he decided on a selection for the final Vodacom URC league game of the season that features 10 changes plus two positional switches from the one that beat the Dragons 48-12 last week.
He acknowledged that he was, as the old saying goes, between a rock and a hard place when it came to balancing the need to protect certain crucial players from potential injury and give others some game time to ready them for a possible call later in the competition, and a desire to maintain continuity and momentum heading towards a playoff phase that is two weeks away.
The Stormers end this phase of the season against Cardiff at DHL Stadium on Friday night effectively assured of a place in the playoffs. They need one log point from the game to make sure they avoid finishing eighth, which would mean a really tough away trip to the log winners, Leinster, in the quarterfinal.
Every other scenario is much of a muchness for the Stormers who, regardless of who they face, will be playing the playoff games away from Cape Town. Depending on the results this weekend, their likely destinations are Glasgow, which is least favoured from a travel viewpoint but that is counterbalanced by the Warriors’ form slump, and Durban and Pretoria, where the opposition is formidable and arguably stronger than Glasgow right now but the travel logistics will be so much easier to deal with.
IF GLASGOW, THEY WILL FLY EARLY
So it is a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other, and Dobson does have the comfort of knowing that if his team finishes fifth and Glasgow drop to fourth, which would happen if they lose to Leinster at the weekend and the Sharks beat the Scarlets, at least the gap because of next week’s European finals means they can travel earlier to Glasgow than they did last year.
“If we end up going to Glasgow we will be flying out next Friday, which gives us a whole week there and means we can train properly rather than lose training sessions like we do when we travel on the Tuesday,” said Dobson.
But while the risk to the Stormers’ log position and the impact of what defeat will mean is minimal this week, the big risk to fielding a changed-up team is the break in continuity and therefore potential break in momentum for a team that has been in outstanding form over the past few weeks heading into the playoff rounds.
First choice players like Warrick Gelant and Evan Roos, who have not been selected to play against Cardiff, will have had a three week break from the Dragons game by the time the Finals Series starts, which is borderline too long, and Dobson agrees.
“Losing momentum is a concern and there is a risk to doing what we are doing tomorrow (Friday) and I am a bit worried about that,” said Dobson as he explained his team selections.
“Also because the team is in such a good space. We have been really consistent over the last few games. But, for example, we do have to play Manie (Libbok). We’d like to have kept Sacha’s (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) innings going and keep that flow going, but the fact is that if Sacha gets injured ahead of the playoffs, then Manie would not have played at all.
“So Manie has to play, and to control his game time he has to start. It is not like looseforward, where you can cover for a guy if he is injured early in the game. If Sacha started and went down after five minutes, Manie is not ready to play 75 minutes. It does worry me a bit (looking ahead to the quarterfinal) as we are in such a nice space, but apart from needing to give players game time, there are also players we feel needed protecting.”
COACH’S REASONING DOES MAKE SENSE
This was going to be the game where the Stormers were thinking of unveiling a backline featuring Libbok at flyhalf, Feinberg-Mngomezulu at inside centre and Damian Willemse at outside, so the fact that they’d already completed their mission of making the playoffs last week definitely had an impact on the selection. However, Dobson’s reasoning does make sense.
“You have to look at the time of year and kick-off time. It is a tricky thing when it gets to this time of year,” said the Stormers director of rugby.
“It didn’t take too long to come up with this selection. The first imperative is that what is needed is that we win. There are also guys who are playing for us who have put a lot into the union, and this team won’t be playing at this stadium again, at least not in our colours. But we are in the playoffs and at this time of the season there are niggles.
“Evan, Warrick and Ali Vermaak are players we decided we couldn’t afford to do without in a quarterfinal. But we are still going all out to win against Cardiff. We chose Salmaan (Moerat) to lead us as we know he will keep the intensity up.
"We could otherwise have started with Connor Evans in this game, but we needed Salmaan to set the tone, because we don’t want another Ospreys experience (the Stormers lost unexpectedly at home to the Ospreys last season when fielding a weakened team).”
Another star player from the past few weeks who is not in the starting team is flanker Paul de Villiers but at least, like Feinberg-Mngomezulu, he will be playing off the bench.
STILL A VERY STRONG TEAM
And while the team is definitely weakened if you look at who has been left out, it remains a strong team.
“Maybe you guys are getting tired of hearing this now, but I am very excited about the path we are on and this team selection reflects that, with star players being left out but Springboks like Herschel Jantjies and Manie coming into the team. That we can change up selection like we have and still have such a strong side playing for us is a reflection that we are on the right path (when it comes to creation of depth).
Indeed, JD Schickerling coming in as the lock partner for Moerat to enable Ruben van Heerden to rest is also certainly not a backward step, and the return of Neethling Fouche at tighthead prop and Dan du Plessis to the midfield adds leadership to the team.
The game is a first start in the URC for young flanker Louw Nel and Dobson is excited to see how he goes.
“Someone like Evan (Roos) will be missed as he’s been immense over the past few weeks, but I think Louw Nel will be exceptional on the flank,” said Dobson.
DHL STORMERS: Damian Willemse, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Wandisile Simelane, Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies, Marcel Theunissen, Louw Nel, Dave Ewers, JD Schickerling, Salmaan Moerat (captain), Neethling Fouché, Joseph Dweba, Sti Sithole.
Replacements: Scarra Ntubeni, Vernon Matongo, Sazi Sandi, Connor Evans, Paul de Villiers, Paul de Wet, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ben Loader.