Cautious Stormers coach John Dobson has opted to wrap his players in cotton wool to protect them from injury ahead of their opening United Rugby Championship clash against Connacht in Galway on September 25.
Because of the risk of injuries, Dobson said his team were not planning additional warm-up matches ahead of the trip to Ireland after they went down 38-26 against the Bulls in a pre-season clash in Paarl last week.
Dobson said the Stormers’ Springbok stars Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Wilco Louw and Siya Kolisi should be available to face the Sharks on October 19.
Stormers flyer Cheslin Kolbe has been ruled out for at least two months after breaking his jaw during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
“Kolbe is out for eight weeks. He would have played that whole October run, the four games. That was a hell of a blow for us,” Dobson said.
Dobson said there will be no second warm-up before the Stormers travel to face Connacht.
“We can’t risk it in case we get an injury. We’re just too thin,” he said.
“The locks are a concern. The back three is a concern depth-wise until the Springboks come back.
“I’m super happy, given the amount of guys that we optionally pulled out of this game against the Bulls — 17 out of that 31 have never played a URC game.
“At the start of the second half, we were outstanding. But I knew by the end, once we’d mixed up the pack, we’d lose shape towards the end.
“I’m happy with where we are and no injuries. That’s the best thing about the game.”
“We’re not going to play like this against Connacht. We were pulling everything, tipping every ball. It’s going to be more direct.
“We wanted to put ourselves under pressure with our skills that we’ve been training in the pre-season.
“But we learned from the All Blacks experience — we can turn up and get organised.
“What we can’t replace is if JD Schickerling and Adré Smith are out, or if Warrick Gelant’s out, or Seabelo Senatla’s out at the moment.
“We’re just going to have to coach around that.
“I thought there was a chance against the Bulls given the lineups and the guys we realised we couldn’t be without for Connacht. It could have gotten away from us.
“That we stayed competitive and didn’t get an injury makes it a really good outcome for us. I think it was a nice experience.”
Insiders say the Stormers are willing to pay a big transfer fee to bring star scrumhalf Haashim Pead to Cape Town from the Lions.
At the Johannesburg franchise, Pead is behind Morné van den Berg and Nico Steyn in a battle to earn a Lions’ starting berth in the No 9 jersey.
Pead, who attended Bishops, was named Player of the Tournament at last year’s Junior World Championship and has attended a Springbok alignment camp.
“He is a Cape boy. We would love to have him back,” Dobson said.
“It’s a matter between him and the Lions. We would love to have him, but it’s subject to the Lions because he is their player.”
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