Cape Town – Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani is confident that his depleted pack that are missing a few Springboks can handle the physical onslaught from Ulster in Friday’s United Rugby Championship clash in Belfast.
Captain Steven Kitshoff – along with Damian Willemse and Frans Malherbe – have begun their month-long Springbok resting period, while others such as Joseph Dweba, Neethling Fouche, Deon Fourie and Manie Libbok have been spared the journey to the Kingspan Stadium (9.35pm SA time kickoff).
Stormers coach John Dobson was still able to announce a strong tour squad, with Bok lock Marvin Orie taking over the captaincy this week.
New lock signing Ruben van Heerden made the cut, while experienced hooker Scarra Ntubeni is also back from a long-term injury layoff.
There are a number of game-breaking loose forwards such as Evan Roos – who helped spark a second-half comeback in Saturday night’s 30-16 Champions Cup win over Clermont at Cape Town Stadium – Hacjivah Dayimani and Junior Pokomela that can provide the necessary firepower upfront.
Among the backs, Clayton Blommetjies, Juan de Jongh and Imad Khan are back in the mix, although Angelo Davids has been ruled out with a haematoma.
“As you’ve seen throughout the year, we have always been rotating our team – when the Springboks were not around, and when they were around, we kept rotating,” Hlungwani said upon arrival in Belfast.
ALSO READ: Proposed tackle height law could leave rugby players ‘sitting ducks’ says Ireland coach
“So, it’s pretty much the same system: rotate our players, keep them fresh. The guys who are slightly overplayed have been given a rest, and we expect the standards to be where they were last week and the week before.
“We want to keep improving, regardless of who’s playing in the team. The guys know the job they have to do. Scarra is coming back from injury, but Ali (Vermaak) has been part of the squad for most of the weekends, Brokkie (Harris) has been part of the squad…
“So, we expect the same standards, and actually higher, because we always strive to improve every weekend.
“We left on Sunday morning and got here Monday morning. The guys have been in the gym already and done a nice flush-out, so that leaves us with Tuesday and Wednesday to train, and a captain’s [run] on Thursday – so not too bad, as we’ve had worse weeks where we could only train once.”
Stormers Tour Squad
Forwards: Kwenzo Blose, Ben-Jason Dixon, Willie Engelbrecht, Connor Evans, Brok Harris, JJ Kotze, Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, Scarra Ntubeni, Marvin Orie (captain), Junior Pokomela, Evan Roos, Sazi Sandi, Marcel Theunissen, Ruben van Heerden, Andre-Hugo Venter, Ali Vermaak.
Backs: Clayton Blommetjies, Juan de Jongh, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Herschel Jantjies, Imad Khan, Ruhan Nel, Cornel Smit, Stefan Ungerer, Kade Wolhuter.
IOL Sport