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It's all good news for Stormers

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:12

Happy to be back: Stormers skipper Schalk Burger

All news for the Stormers is good as they prepare for their game against the Highlanders at Newlands on Saturday. Schalk Burger is back, Wicus Blaauw is back, Adrian Fondse is almost back - and Andries Bekker's injury is minor.

Skipper Burger will be back to play aginst the Highlanders on Saturday, and as worthy a replacement as Pieter Louw has been, Burger does make a big difference as player and as a captain who leads by industrious example.

It's difficult for players to hold back in any way when their captain is clearly putting in the uncompromising effort that Burger does.

Loosehead prop Blaauw has also recovered from injury and though JC Kritzinger has made the most of his chance to make an impact, coach Allister Coetzee will be tempted to bring Blaauw straight back into the starting XV. It is understood that forwards' coach Matthew Proudfoot has particularly high regard for Blaauw.

More good news is that number four lock Fondse is close to playing. He is practising with the Stormers squad again after months of injury rehab, having been seen mostly this year in the Western Province High Performance Centre gym and running on the touchline alongside the Stormers practice field.

The expectation is that he will play for the WP Vodacom Cup team for one or two weeks and if he gets through those games injury-free and can build a fair level of match fitness, he will be considered for Stormers selection sooner rather than later.

De Kock Steenkamp is rated for his contribution as a tight, hard-grafting number four lock by his coaches and team-mates, but a fit Fondse is a key member of the pack, particularly for his physicality.

The likelihood is that he will come into the reckoning, either as the starting four or perhaps initially off the bench, for the game against the Cheetahs on March 20.

Stand-in captain Bekker, one of the Stormers players who has been consistently good so far this year, was not able to take full part in Monday's training after a knock to a leg against the Brumbies, but will be available for the Highlanders game.

The interesting selection, again, will be that of scrumhalf, where Dewaldt Duvenage's accurate kicking game was missed against the Brumbies.

But with combative, experienced Jimmy Cowan at scrumhalf for the Highlanders and highly talented but relatively inexperienced Michael Hobbs at fyhalf, the temptation may be to retain the more pugnacious Ricky Januarie and use to him to harass and pressurise the Highlanders inside backs.

Having watched the video footage of the Stormers game against the Brumbies, lost 17-19 by the home team, head coach Coetzee was all the more aware of his players' bad options, impatience on attack, and failure to finish - and of course their unconvincing field position game. The team created opportunites to score six or seven tries but had scored only one, with unforced errors - including frustrating knock-ons - playing havoc with promising attacks.

He was happy, tough, with the character and commitment shown by the players, that the players were prepared to put their bodies on the line. And the defence was again impressive.

Coetzee is confident that the team is close to playing to full potential. Against the Highlanders this weekend, they will be determined not only to create opportunities but to finish promising movements by scoring tries.

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