Stormers face big decisions ahead of Scarlets match: Who’ll play and who’ll be rested?
· Citizen
The Stormers should have in-form hybrid star Hacjivah Dayimani back and ready to rumble for their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against Welsh side Llanelli Scarlets at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
But they have a number of tough decisions to make ahead of Wednesday’s team announcement. They are still unsure whether to employ captain Ruhan Nel while they also have to give some of their Springbok players a rest.
Visit saltysenoritaaz.com for more information.
Dayimani has been in terrific form for the Stormers this season, putting in three big performances in the URC, including a man-of-the-match effort in a losing cause against Edinburgh in Scotland, while he has also scored three tries.
Two of those came in another sparkling showing in their derby win over the Sharks, but he was also concussed in that match, which ruled him out of their opening Champions Cup win against Bristol Bears over the past weekend.
Another player to miss that game was captain Nel, who picked up a calf injury in training, which led to him being pulled out late, and assistant coach Dawie Snyman addressed these players’ availability on Monday.
“Hacjivah had his concussion, but he should be available this week,” explained Snyman during a Stormers press briefing.
“It’s a small calf injury (that Nel has), and him not playing (against Bristol) was more precautionary. We could’ve pushed (for him to play). When it comes to calf injuries, if you rip it, it takes a bit longer to heal so we didn’t want to risk it.”
Captaincy call
If the Stormers decide to give Nel another week off, they will have an interesting decision to make about who captains the team against Scarlets, as Dobson said after the Bristol match that some of their Bok players needed a break.
Rising loose forward star Paul de Villiers led them against Bristol, but he could be in line for a rest, having played the last two games, which could open the door for Deon Fourie to step in, as he has captained the Stormers before and has featured off the bench in the last two games.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu also captained them in a few games last season, but he and Damian Willemse will probably be rested, along with Siya Kolisi, who has played their last three games.
“We’ll have to look at the team selected first and see who the leaders in the group are. We’ve always had options. We’ve had Siya there in the past, and Sacha has led the team,” said Snyman.
“He’s (De Villiers) definitely one for the future. He’s very calm in his approach. He leads by example, everyone understands him and he knows what the big moments are in matches.”