Warrick Gelant (facing camera) can dovetail smartly with Damian Willemse (No 15) to manage the Stormers’ game against Edinburgh tomorrow. Photo: BackpagePix
Did you know that the Stormers have never lost to Edinburgh?
To be fair to the Scottish outfit, three out of the four games were in South Africa, with only the first encounter at the Hive Stadium resulting in a 20-20 draw in 2021.
In March this year, John Dobson’s team pulled off a handsome 43-21 victory at the Cape Town Stadium, highlighted by wing Suleiman Hartzenberg’s hat-trick and a brace for No 11 Leolin Zas.
The Stormers grabbed their four-try bonus point in the first half already, but it is likely to be a very different type of game against Edinburgh in tomorrow’s United Rugby Championship clash in Scotland (6.15pm start).
One of the main protagonists of the March victory, flyhalf Manie Libbok, won’t be in action as he takes a break following his Springbok exploits in the Rugby Championship, while he also got married last weekend.
Youngster Jurie Matthee shrugged off a few missed penalties to touch by slotting a few vital kicks through the posts in last week’s 36-5 win over Zebre in Parma as the Stormers opted for scoreboard pressure before scoring a stunning set-piece try off a lineout just before halftime to wrest control at 16-0 up.
But there is 80% rain forecast for Edinburgh tomorrow and a chilly 10 degrees Celcius overall, which is likely to drop dramatically by the 5.15pm local time kick-off.
So, the visitors won’t be able to play their usual free-flowing attacking game, and may have to opt for more of the ‘slow poison’ that they employed in the first half in Italy last week to wear down an Edinburgh side low on confidence after their 55-21 loss to the Lions in Johannesburg.
There have been reports that Damian Willemse may shift to flyhalf this weekend, with Warrick Gelant slotting in at fullback, and that may indicate that the Stormers want to run the ball in what is likely to be slippery conditions at the Hive Stadium.
But it is also an opportunity for both men to showcase their considerable skill-sets and manage the Stormers’ variation between a ball-in-hand approach and winning territory with the boot.
Gelant is renowned for finding unusual angles with his kicks, especially when he uses his left boot, and dovetailing with Willemse could stretch the Edinburgh defence across the pitch and then open up gaps in the middle for hard-running centres Ruhan Nel and captain Dan du Plessis.
But for all of that to happen, the forwards will need to roll up their sleeves once more and secure front-foot ball, with the front row of Sti Sithole, Joseph Dweba and Neethling Fouché again aiming to dominate the scrums.
Powerful No 8 Keke Morabe will look to continue to burst through tackles with ball-in-hand and make big hits himself, while workhorse locks JD Schickerling and Ruben van Heerden will bring their high work-rates to the party too.
Coach Sean Everitt, though, is likely to bring back Scotland Test star Duhan van der Merwe at wing after he sat out of the Lions game, and he will bring real impetus on attack.
Some of our greatest hits against Edinburgh. Set for another thriller at Hive Stadium on Saturday. ⛈️ v 🏰#iamastormer #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/luRSOZcovC
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) October 9, 2024
If Edinburgh’s pack can win any sort of decent possession, Van der Merwe will be a handful for the Stormers backline to contain.
But the Capetonians will be determined to end their tour on a high, having lost all four games on their URC trip last November.