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Stormers' subs stake their claim

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:10

Time could show that the unplanned opportunity to showcase depth which was thrust on the Stormers on Saturday could prove as valuable as the five Super 14 log points gained.

A double illness setback hit the Stormers ahead of the game in which they beat the Highlanders 33-0 but this may turn out to have been a blessing in disguise.

The Stormers' website reports that hooker Tiaan Liebenberg was struck down on the day of the game with flu, so in stepped Deon Fourie to replace him. Right wing Gio Aplon was also battling with flu, so he dropped to the bench, and Sireli Naqelevuki replaced him in the starting team.

That starting team had also seen some additional changes as a result of selection - Anton van Zyl was chosen as front lock ahead of De Kock Steenkamp and Dewaldt Duvenage came in at scrumhalf for Ricky Januarie. And Schalk Burger returned to lead the side after recovering from injury, replacing Pieter Louw at flank.

In every instance the player who made it onto the field in the starting team excelled. Van Zyl strengthened the Stormers’ contesting of the Highlanders' line-outs, and the upshot was that this was one of the areas where the hosts gave the visitors a rough time.

Duvenage had not been poor in his previous start against the Lions, but he was even better in this game, adding incisiveness and sharpness to his distribution and general play around the fringes. According to the Stormers' website, it was his better tactical kicking though that had earned him a recall ahead of Januarie.

Naqelevuki is often maligned in the Western Cape for appearing lethargic and lazy on the field, perhaps because his running style is deceptive, but against the Highlanders his physique was used to great effect by the Stormers in getting them across the advantage line.

Fourie was outstanding, a real livewire player who appeared all over the place and once even raced across to go through a gap only a couple of passes after he had been in the front row of a scrum. He was also on the spot to round off an attacking movement to score the first Stormers' try - a reward for his excellent workrate and support play.

When Liebenberg returns to full health he will return to the team because he is probably the form hooker in the country at present, but Fourie certainly showed the Stormers' coaches that he is deserving of consideration. And so were the other players mentioned, as well as Pieter Louw, who came on for Burger late in the game and again impressed.

For coach Allister Coetzee, it was the perfect response to the disappointing narrow defeat to the Brumbies the week before. And by grabbing the bonus point for scoring four tries, they made up for the point they lost by not holding onto the draw against the Brumbies.

"Hopefully we have got the monkey off our backs now with this bonus point thing, which is a bonus," said Coetzee in his post-match comment.

"Now we just have to keep winning and keep the momentum going. I won’t change much. The guys are comfortable with doing what they do best, which is playing in the right side of the field, defending well and creating opportunities."

Apart from the defence, which has now conceded a miserly two tries in four games, perhaps the most impressive feature of the Stormers' win was their driving maul, which was responsible for two of the tries. One of those was a superb effort from a line-out that took place all of 25 metres from the tryline.

The Hurricanes will come to Newlands on Saturday smarting from an unexpected defeat by the Cheetahs but boosted by the return from injury of All Black centre Conrad Smith and utility back Tamati Ellison.

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