Eben being out for 6 weeks is a disaster for the Stormers, he would have been the grunt in the pack , the glue that bonded the whole thing. But without him i think there will be a major collapse. It will be touch and go.
From what i gather and combined with my own knowledge Bekker and the other guys do not have the muscle or sustainabilty to hold the wave back.
Yep huge loss and you best hope that Coetzee does not employ the useless de Kock Steenkamp in his place.
The obvious choice is moving Elstadt to lock
Now if only Coetzee had been savvy enough to retain the services of Quinn Roux, instead of overlooking him last year, forcing him to piss off to Ireland.
Coetzee is short sighted
Saffex - massive loss , not just in the scrum but his presence in the game is worth 3 players. The Stormers will fall short filling those boots.
As for his stand in, I do not expect anything great.
Agreed, you are losing the best tightforward in the game. This kid will go down as the best lock ever. We thought Bakkies and Victor were good, you aint seen nothing yet is all we can say.
Elstadt will do the best job of filling in
Bekker will only last two games and then its back to the park bench for him. Pieter Steph-Du Toit is going to be as good as Etzebeth.
Agreed Pat, Steph du Toit looks the real deal. He impressed me as much as Eben did at Baby Bok level.
The sooner he gets to partner Etzebeth at Bok level the better
At 2m and 118kg, he is only going to get bigger and stronger, much like Eben has, who now tips the scale at 125kg
Steph du Toit going to be as good as Etzebeth? Wow - thats a big call.
Haven't seen it personally, not by a long shot. Impressions have been that he lacks upper body strength.
Oimatey, where did you suck that shit from - lacks upper body strength - what a joke?
Just my observations big guy. I think it was a Bulls game last year - he seemed to be going backwards whenever he carried the ball into contact. Maybe it was bad body position, but he looked like he was lacking the man-strength that Etzebeth seems to already have. I realize he's young, so that will probably come.
Hope they manage him as far as playing time goes - no surprise Etzebeth is hurt after the game schedule he went through last year as both the Stormers and Boks enforcer.
Well I am not sure how much observation you were doing in that Bulls game, given the only time Steph du Toit was bashed backwards, was when two players tackled him together.
You need to pay better attention, do a google search of images of Steph du Toit and you will see a photo of him being hit by two Bulls players
The loss of Etzebeth is a potential season destroying injury for the Stormers. Normally the loss of one player, should not have such an adverse effect on a rugby team, but Etzebeth is just that good. He should be fit again a couple of weeks into the competition, but it could well already be too late for the Stormers.
I do like both eben and steph du tiot, but to be tottally honest i was surpised to see steph play at lock, as for most of the baby bok world cup games he played flanker, saying that he has shown to be more than fit for the lock job with some pace that i have never seen on a player that size ( his run for the baby boks off the back of the lineout in the final showed this perfectly) however someone who also i think personally may come up and challange for one of the lock places in the team is paul willemse (new blue bulls lock from the lions) he is big and a powerful runner however i have not seen loads of him since the baby boks world cup but im quite looking forward to see how he does at the bulls. Also dont write him off because he plays for the blues, as i know many will because they have produced world class locks in the passed! but i guess is a wait and see for now.
Zulu, Steph du Toit is a lock who plays 7. He played 7 for the Baby Boks, because the Baby Boks had Willemse and Ruan Botha as locks. Steph was skilled enough to play 7 and it was Theron's way of getting all the best players on the field.
The same is happening this year with the Baby Boks. Jacques du Plessis of the Bulls is a similar player to Steph du Toit, he is a lock who plays flank.
Both du Plessis and Steph du Toit should ultimately play lock as both at 2m and 118kg are perfectly suited to the position.
Agreed on Willemse, he is a good prospect and I hear he has shed loads of weight as at one point he weighed 135kg
Ahh thank you for clearing that up for me about steph! i was wondering why the sudden change in position! and Willemse is a monster! he was a big ball carrier in the baby boks! however i have heard he is another bakkies as in he struggles with his on field discipline, also seen in final! he lost his head i believe he got a Red card?! or yellow my brain can not remember so well :P but what i want to see from steph that eben shows is the heart and mind to challange at the ruck eben showed at times in 2012 to be a equal if not better than frans Lowe at being a feacher at rucks... i just want to see if steph has that mind to slow the ball down legally! for the boks/sharks this year if he can... then we may have the worlds greatest pair of locks!
Agreed Zulu. Have not seen that hardness and physicality from Steph du Toit yet. Played against plenty of big men that just were not physically strong in the tackle or with the ball and then others that were half the size who were absolute badgers. du Toit needs to show that edge in S15 before he is even considered for the Boks.
Oi, what is clear is that you have seen very little of Steph du Toit......the comparisons with Etzebeth are there for a reason, the kids strength is his physicality and how he likes to take contact and make an impact.
As good as Jan Serfontein was in the junior WC, for me Steph was the player of the tournament. He owned the Poms and Kiwi's in the physical battles and in the few appearances at senior level, he showed he belonged.
Its true that his real test will be this S15, where he will be judged as a future prospect. Sadly it looks like Plumtree will go with experience in Franco v/d Merwe and Steph du Toit will play off the bench
I look forward to being impressed. Would be great if he lives up to these high expectations.
Oimatey Steph played very briefly last year in the Super 15 and looked out of his depth. However at his very young age a year means alot. I do not see him being quite as dominant as Etzebeth at a comparative age.
He is one to watch out for though. Snapster would have had him as a Bok lock last year I think?
Beenkop dont lie, he was the best lock on the park in his S15 debut against the Bulls
