Ex Supersport
DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee, in confirming on Monday that Elton Jantjies and Eben Etzebeth will play off the bench, has removed most of the secrecy and much of the debate from his team selection for Friday’s crucial Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Blues in Albany.
However, there is one area that he says he remains unhappy with as his team moves beyond the halfway point of the league phase of the season, namely consistency in all the aspects related to forward play.
He said in a teleconference call from New Zealand on Monday that he was happy with the way the scrumming has developed in the last two games (Agreed given lightweight hooker and lightweigh lock). In both the match against the Sharks that preceded the bye and in the first tour game against the Hurricanes, the scrumming unit made up for the poor set-phase play late in the match that ultimately cost them the game against the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
Whether he starts with Pat Cilliers at tighthead against the Blues or Frans Malherbe, Coetzee should be fairly confident that the scrumming will stand up – particularly now that he has the formidable presence of Etzebeth joining the fray later in the game. The power that is packed from the second row can never be underestimated.
But while De Kock Steenkamp came back late in the game to poach some crucial balls against the Hurricanes, the lineouts remain a bit of a hit and miss, and Deon Fourie’s two early over-throws cannot go unremarked as it was not the first time in the season that it has happened (Rather play the Currie Cup player of the year in his best position at 6 where he is superb!!! The mind boggles at the stupdity involved here). There have been times when the Stormers' lineout work has been exceptional, such as against the Cheetahs, but on other occasions, such as against the Bulls and the Crusaders, it has been what has lost them the match.(Tiaan has been the player we most missed followed by Grant. Had Grant been fit we would not have lost some of those early games)
Consistency needs to be the buzzword, and as Coetzee says, it doesn’t help the cause if one area of play functions on a given day and the other one doesn’t. When the lineout was good in Bloemfontein, it was the scrum that lost the Stormers the match.
“The scrumming improvement has definitely been noticeable and I am very pleased about that,” said Coetzee from his hotel room in Auckland.
“But we want everything to function simultaneously. It isn’t any good if one thing goes well one week and then badly the next. I think we have seen this season that we need a good set-piece platform to be successful. When our set-piece goes well that is when we play well and that is when our game works.”
Indeed, a glance through the Stormers' record for the season confirms Coetzee’s point. The lineout and scrum both functioned perfectly against the Chiefs when they scored their first win of the season, and it was a similar story against the Brumbies and Sharks. Against the Hurricanes the lineout started off shakily and it, along with some strange calls from referee Steve Walsh, may have been what prevented the Stormers from winning more comfortably in Palmerston North. (why waste your time being polite. Walshie was doing his nz ref thing!!! No more no less))
Dropping Fourie is obviously a difficult thing for Coetzee to do, but he did play Scarra Ntubeni, who is fit again, as his starting hooker in the Currie Cup last year – and the youngster was one of the players who excelled in the winning final against the Sharks in Durban. Ntubeni played off the bench last week but is ready to start against the Blues and may well do so.(I fear he is a lightweight waiting to be exposed. Rather play Bezuidenhout and Deon at 6)
The problem is where would Fourie then get accommodated given the important role he plays as one of the team’s primary scavengers of ball on the ground (Something Kolisi cant do- he is also not as fast or strong as Deon although of simialr weight) . What Fourie sometimes loses in his primary function he more than makes up for in other areas, and it will be something that weighs heavily on Coetzee as he considers his options.
With Siya Kolisi fit and available for selection, Fourie is unlikely to be accommodated on the openside flank, which was where he captained WP to their Currie Cup triumph last year (And was Currie Cup player of the year - this has to be a quota issue!!!!). And Nizaam Carr is doing well enough as the reserve loose-forward for Coetzee to find it difficult to accommodate him on the bench (That is laughable in the extreme. Carr before Deon Fourie!!! Carr has been crap and should come no where near the bench - quotas going mad).
The team is to be named on Wednesday and it may be foolhardy to make predictions from so far away, but it could line up as follows: Joe Pietersen, Gio Aplon, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers (capt), Bryan Habana, Gary van Aswegen, Dewaldt Duvenage, Duane Vermeulen, Rynhardt Elstadt, Siya Kolisi, Andries Bekker, De Kock Steenkamp, Frans Malherbe, Scarra Ntubeni, Siya Kitshoff. Replacements: Deon Fourie, Pat Cilliers, Eben Etzebeth, Nizaam Carr, Nic Groom, Elton Jantjies, Damian de Allende.
With Fourie slotting in as the back-up hooker, that looks a strong team and a particularly potent bench against opponents that the Stormers had to fight back from a big deficit in the second half to beat in the last minute when they last met on New Zealand soil at Eden Park in Auckland in 2011.
Rubbish play Bezudenhout at hooker and Deon Fourie at 6 . Don Armand on bench - dump that useless Carr. Allende at center and De Jongh on the wing. Aplon on the bench as a super sub.
Hope Allistair doesnt go the quota route. He seems to have realised Jantjies should not start but his quota tendencies will be tested.
