Jaco Coetzee tasked with keeping Bulls’ ‘mattress’ Van Staden in check at Loftus
The Bulls man has been in good form so far this year and the Stormers know they're going to have to match his physicality and breakdown presence.
Jaco Coetzee has opted to leave Western Province and the Stormers and take up a deal with Bath in England. Picture: Getty Images
The Stormers are looking at abrasive flanker Jaco Coetzee to contain the Bulls’ “mattress” in their Super Rugby Unlocked clash at Loftus on Saturday.
The Bulls’ menacing flanker, Marco van Staden, nicknamed “mattress” and “Eskom” was in brilliant form at the breakdown last weekend against the Sharks and the Stormers feel they will have to contain him to stand a fighting chance.
Stormers coach John Dobson was however concerned with Coetzee’s lack of game time, but he had little choice after losing captain Siya Kolisi to a knee injury and his replacement Nama Xaba to an ankle niggle.
“Our forwards will have to go a bit longer at altitude; they’re going to have to go deep into the game,” said Dobson.
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He added the match would ask big questions of the bench players. “As shown in our first two matches against the Lions and the Pumas we are probably still short of that spark to ignite the team to a big performance, but these things take time,” he said.
“There’s no Cobus Wiese or Johan du Toit coming off the bench to provide that big impact for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dobson didn’t hesitate to recall Damian Willemse at flyhalf after the Bok’s late withdrawal from last week’s match against the Pumas.
“While Tim (Swiel) got his kicks against the Pumas, Damian remains the guy in the saddle,” said Dobson.
The match kicks off at 7pm Saturday.
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