The joy of the DHL Stormers’ convincing 37-24 win over the Vodacom Bulls in the opening weekend of Super Rugby should have been tempered for their fans by the sight of Damian de Allende hobbling in a moon-boot afterwards.
The Springbok centre was injured halfway through the second half and the prognosis confirmed what it looked like when De Allende hobbled his way through the tunnel after the game – he could be out for much of the season.
“Damian is not good news I am afraid. I don’t want to say what it is just yet, and we want to hear more once a full medical has been done on him and he has been for scans, but the initial assessment is not good,” said Stormers coach Robbie Fleck.
“My understanding though is that it is not good news and he could be out for a while. It is a pity that after such a great performance we have to be confronted with something like this. We’ll know on Monday exactly where Damian stands but it does not look good and we have already lost one experienced centre to injury in Juan de Jongh.”
The latter’s absence wasn’t felt in the win over the Bulls because EW Viljoen, the youngster who made his Super Rugby debut in De Jongh’s No 13 jersey, was outstanding. Big, strong on his feet, good at passing the ball through the tackle, Viljoen has a lot going for him, and on Saturday he lived up to the high rap he has received from those who followed his career closely through the age-group levels.
However, a lot for the Stormers was being built around having a big inside centre, and De Allende, who looked before his injury to have regained some of his old confidence, was the perfect fit. Fortunately there is help this week in the form of Huw Jones, who will come back and face the Jaguares during a short break in the new Scotland international’s Six Nations commitments.
“Huw will be back this week fortunately but then he goes back to the UK so we might have some thinking to do at inside centre going forward if the bad news about Damian is confirmed,” said Fleck.
Dan Kriel played there as a replacement on Saturday and looks he right fit in terms of size, and Dan du Plessis made his Super Rugby debut in the No 12 last season, but it is still a position that the Stormers cannot afford any more injuries. They arguably couldn’t afford De Allende’s as the backline looks short of experience without him.
It’s a pity for the Cape side, as they were extremely impressive against a Bulls side that is a lot stronger than the one that came to Newlands and lost 33-9 last year. Fleck said he was a bit concerned about the way his young team let the Bulls gain some respectability in the second half by scoring four tries, but otherwise he was more than happy with the opening night of the new season.
“It’s just the start and it is a long competition. I told the guys after the game that we really need to savour this moment,” said Fleck.
“It was a good performance and were looking forward to the remainder of the campaign. It was a great way to start. But while we scored some great tries to keep the momentum going, and I was happy with the first half, there were a few soft moments in the second that can’t be afforded against good opponents. We are not a finished product yet.”
Apart from the improvement in the Stormers’ handling skill set, their breakdown work was phenomenal, which is also a tribute to the hard work put in during the off-season. Western Province coach John Dobson was recruited into the management to pay attention to breakdown specifics and it was a move that, on the evidence of what has been seen through the pre-season into the first game, has paid off.
“We are playing New Zealand teams this year and if you want to beat Kiwi sides you have to be brutal at the breakdown,” said the coach.(Not with small players like Bongi, Carr and Kolisi it wont happen)
“We are getting better at it, but there’s a lot of work still to be one,” he added.
The Stormers play the Jaguares in Cape Town on Saturday before travelling to Port Elizabeth to play the Southern Kings the following week.
Joining Huw Jones in returning to Stormers colours this week will be Sevens Bok Seabelo Senatla, who is now ready to contribute after taking a short break from rugby after ending his involvement with the Sevens team.
Senatla will add some spark but this injury to Allende is extremely bad news. Then Huw leaving!!
