Cape Town – If ever some of the Stormers stars pushing for Springbok selection want to advance their cause for national honours, then Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash against Edinburgh at Cape Town Stadium (2pm kickoff) is the game to do it.
That is because the director of rugby at SA Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, will be in attendance.
The former Springbok coach has served his ban on being involved in any match-day activities following THAT video on Australian referee Nic Berry’s officiating in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in July last year.
Erasmus was initially stopped from being involved in rugby entirely for two months, which saw him take to Twitter in a series of video clips to show Bok fans that he was living his best life in ‘Dezemba’.
The former loose forward returned to his office job as the director of rugby in –mid-January this year, but his actual match-day ban only ended on Friday, September 30.
That included even being in stadiums, but now he can go anywhere he wants – except on the pitch, as World Rugby announced in May that they have approved a new global trial on “limiting the opportunity for non-playing personnel to enter the field of play during a match” from July 1, which “aims to improve the flow of matches by reducing unnecessary stoppages without compromising welfare”.
1st of October it is, so far 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 teams all good in round 3 of URC!! See you guys at the Stormers match at the DHL STADIUM! Lekka 🏉![CDATA[]]>🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 pic.twitter.com/7AukFYUYAW
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) September 30, 2022
But they also stated specifically that in terms of the additional team personnel, the two dedicated water carriers “cannot be a director of rugby or head coach”.
That does leave the door open for Erasmus to change his job title perhaps…
But before he joins the Bok management on the end-of-year tour to Europe in November, Erasmus – who turns 50 on November 5, when the Boks face Ireland in Dublin – will make his ‘comeback’ to a stadium on Saturday, when he watches the Stormers take on Edinburgh.
“1st of October it is, so far (SA) teams all good in round 3 of URC!! See you guys at the Stormers match at the DHL STADIUM! Lekka” he tweeted just after midnight on Friday.
So, with places up for grabs in what is likely to be a 50-man Bok squad for the November tour, a number of the leading Stormers players have an opportunity to catch Erasmus’ eye.
At the top of that list will be outstanding No 8 Evan Roos, who earned a Test cap against Wales in Bloemfontein in July, but has been virtually ignored since, as well as flyhalf Manie Libbok – especially considering the crisis at No 10 in the national team.
Then there are others who have been part of the Bok squad as well, such as Deon Fourie, Salmaan Moerat, Marvin Orie, Joseph Dweba and Herschel Jantjies, who could do with excellent performances against Edinburgh to stake a claim for the Bok squad again.
Blindside flank Hacjivah Dayimani had a terrific last season as well, and was the Man of the Match in the win over Connacht last week in Stellenbosch, so he could remind Erasmus and Bok coach Jacques Nienaber of his unique attributes too.
And who knows, youngsters such as Suleiman Hartzenberg and Sacha Mngomezulu could be left-field selections for the two Bok midweek games against Munster and Bristol.
One established Bok featuring for the Stormers on Saturday is Damian Willemse, who is playing at inside centre instead of fullback or flyhalf, where he featured for the Boks this year – so his performance will also be one Erasmus should keep an eye on.
Stormers Team
15 Clayton Blommetjies 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg 13 Dan du Plessis 12 Damian Willemse 11 Angelo Davids 10 Manie Libbok 9 Paul de Wet 8 Evan Roos 7 Hacjivah Dayimani 6 Deon Fourie 5 Marvin Orie (captain) 4 Salmaan Moerat 3 Neethling Fouche 2 Joseph Dweba 1 Ali Vermaak.
Bench: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter 17 Brok Harris 18 Sazi Sandi 19 Adre Smith 20 Ernst van Rhyn 21 Junior Pokomela 22 Herschel Jantjies 23 Sacha Mngomezulu.