"Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has appointed Juan de Jongh and Frans Malherbe as co-captains for the 2016 Super Rugby season.
De Jongh has 84 Super Rugby caps for the Stormers and is no stranger to the captaincy role, having led Western Province to the Currie Cup title in 2014, while powerful tighthead prop Malherbe has long been earmarked as a leader within the squad. The experienced De Jongh will lead the team out onto the pitch and have the final say in on-field decisions, but will share the captaincy duties with Malherbe both on and off the field.
Fleck said that the move to co-captaincy is an extension of the collective leadership that has driven the pre-season preparations.
“We have a young squad and we want to strengthen the leadership within the group. I wanted a strong leader in the pack and in the backline, so with them sharing the workload it makes things easier.
“Juan has developed into a great leader who has proven himself at Currie Cup level, and Frans is a natural leader which he has shown since age-group level,” he said. The Stormers coach explained that both players bring something different to the leadership role, and will also be able to rely on the wider leadership group for support.
“We have two strong, talented leaders who complement each other well, they are different characters, but both add massive value to the team environment and personify our diverse team culture.
“They have a strong wider leadership group around them, and I am confident that if either of them is not available for any reason we are well covered in that department,” Fleck added.
The Stormers open their Super Rugby campaign at home against the Bulls on Saturday, February 27.
So what have we got here - Fleck had to satisfy the advocates of BEE and appoint De Jongh as co=-captain, a player who is -
* not up to standard as a backline player and who would ultimately have to be replaced because of that reason; and
* would not be available for a major part of the Super Rugby Tournament because of Sevens requirements.
The appointment of Malherbe must be surely be a serious jolt of Mozart out of the normal ignorance he showed over the past two years, when he went bananas and criticized Malherbe endlessly in posting after posting. He made as per normal an utter fool of himself and one can only wonder what the idiot will come up now. .
I was listening to the speech of Maimane in response to Sona. He said Zuma is living on planet Zuma many light years away from the people of SA and hence not fit to be President of SA. he described planet Zuma as a place like Nkandla is not a problem - the mine worker shooting at Marikana - where BEE consiosts of cronies getting everything and the people as a whole gets nothing.
Now back to sport issues, Mozart live on a planet in the same constellation where rugby players never age and where newcomers are unwelcome and criticized through constant lies and misrepresentations. he lives on a planet where rugby consists only of the "stampkar" model and where kicking away of balls is the only realistic thing.
However, back to Malherbe- one of the players in whose case his hate-campaign has been never-ending - so what now?


