Final reprieve for Kritzinger
Wed, 26 May 2010 13:13
The return of JC Kritzinger, on the bench in place of Argentinean Eusebio Guinazu, is the only change to the Stormers matchday 22 for their Super 14 Final showdown with the Bulls in Soweto on Saturday.
As was expected, the Stormers starting XV for the game at the iconic Orlando Stadium is unchanged from that which smashed the Waratahs 25-6 in the semifinal last week.
Coach Allister Coetzee resisted the temptation to field two props on the bench for Saturday’s encounter with the gargantuan Bulls pack, with the traditional four forwards and three backs selected as reserves.
Stormers forwards' coach Matt Proudfoot said earlier in the week that consideration would be given to having a full front row on the bench, but Coetzee said on Wednesday when announcing his team that having "a quality player like Kritzinger back to cover both loosehead and tighthead is a real bonus".
Coetzee said Kritzinger - who has recovered from a calf injury - had been regarded from the start of the Super 14 as the Stormers second choice loosehead behind Wicus Blaauw as well as the second choice tighthead to Brok Harris.
"It's great to have JC back, He's been taken through a tough fitnes test and he's fully fit to play," said Coetzee.
The Bulls have five forwards on their bench for Saturday - two of them, Derick Kuün and Pedrie Wannenburg, are loose forwards.
Bryan Habana did not train with the team on Wednesday, but Coetzee commented: "It's just a slight cold; he trained yesterday [Tuesday] and all is fine - it's just precautionary."
Stormers: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC
Kritzinger, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Willem de Waal, 22 Tim Whitehead.
Date: Saturday, May 29
Venue: Orlando Stadium, Soweto
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Cobus Wessels, Christie du Preez
Reserve referee: Mark Lawrence
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
By Len Kaplan
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