The Stormers were able to name their strongest possible team to face Cardiff in their URC knockout, despite a slew of injury concerns earlier in the week.
Stormers stars Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Damian Willemse were injury doubts ahead of their URC quarter-final against Cardiff in Cape Town on Saturday. Picture: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images
Stormers director of rugby John Dobson admitted the team faced a potential crisis earlier in the week with five star players in danger of missing their United Rugby Championship (URC) quarter-final against Cardiff on Saturday, before all of them were passed fit.
A training ground collision between Damian Willemse and Leolin Zas on Wednesday was widely reported, but Dobson said their were also question marks hanging over the heads of star flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, eighthman Evan Roos and flank Den-Jason Dixon.
But on Friday all five were named in the Stormers starting lineup for the knockout match at Cape Town Stadium, along with the injury returns of captain Ruhan Nel and wing Seabelo Senatla.
“On Wednesday we were looking at possibly minus five if you looked at Evan, Sacha (who was ill), obviously the Damian-Zas situation, and then BJ (Dixon) also had a neck referral,” Dobson said at Friday’s pre-match press conference.
“Those things are terrible (the collision) because it’s not like a normal knock. It could be something serious. So it’s a massive relief. Given where we were on Wednesday afternoon, it’s a big, big relief.”
The Stormers will now be looking to put their disappointing finish to the URC pool stage behind them, where they dropped from top to third on the log, after they drew with Ulster in Ireland and lost to Cardiff in Wales, by bouncing back with a dominant performance against the Welsh outfit in their first knockout game.
Perfect opportunity
Dobson felt the game was the perfect opportunity for the team to prove they have what it takes to go on and win the competition for the second time.
“This is a game that we need to show our true colours. We started off the season really well but this game will determine if we are still the team that was so good in the early part of the season or whether we have a lot of work to do to set things right before the next season starts,” explained Dobson.
“This calendar year, since the Bulls game in early January, we have been inconsistent and it has understandably led to questions about our game and how we are tracking.
“So this is a very important game for us, one that will determine how we view the season. If we aren’t still alive next week, it just won’t be good enough given how the first part of our season went.”
The Stormers won their first eight URC matches this season, but then went on to lose six and win just four of their next 10.
If they get past Cardiff they will likely be flying over to Dublin to take on defending champs Leinster, unless Leinster are massively upset by the Lions, which would then see them host the Joburg side in their semifinal.
