The juggling act Stormers are getting right
OPINION: Should the fellow South African United Rugby Championship franchises take a page from the Stormers’ book to be successful without the availability of their top players who are on national duty?
This thought struck me while listening to two contrasting online interviews by Sharks head coach John Plumtree and Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani.
Plumtree, ahead of the Sharks’ defeat to Ulster, which included 17 Springboks in their matchday squad, spoke about playing without his Boks in his side following two defeats and a draw on the road.
“We need to get to a squad that we can win without our Boks,” Plumtree said ahead of their clash against Ulster.
Yet even with all the returning players from national duty, they were still outsmarted and outclassed by the men from Belfast.
In contrast, the Stormers, who are currently unbeaten, demolished Leinster (35-0) and Ospreys (26-10) without players such as Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cobus Reinach, who will possibly make his URC debut for the Capetonians this weekend against Benetton.
*Also read: Bok set for Stormers debut?
Hlungwani was asked in an online press conference whether losing players to the Boks disrupted their momentum as a team.
His responses were chalk and cheese in comparison to Plumtree’s.
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“For us as coaches and a team, we want our players to excel and reach higher levels.
“We want them to become Boks, so we take it as it comes.
“We’re delighted that one or two guys are joining the Bok squad who haven’t been there in a while, like Ben Jason [Dixon] and Zach [Zachary Porthen, first call-up].
“It doesn’t really affect us. If anything, we celebrate it.
“We celebrate our guys moving to higher honours. It’s something we’re excited about.
“That comes first. As much as we want to do well, and we will do well, but we have to celebrate these guys making it to higher honours.
“So it doesn’t affect us at all. If anything, it gives us more pride and makes other guys hungrier to want to reach the same standards and levels.”
This sums up the Stormers’ mentality not to overly rely on high-profile Boks to achieve success.
The Bulls, to some degree, have managed to do the same under Jake White during the early stages of his tenure, and many of those players were capped at Test level at a later stage.
The Stormers will be spread even thinner at tighthead prop with Porthen’s call-up, but could be boosted with the services of Oli Kebble, who is yet to make his return to a blue and white jersey for the first time since 2017.
Currently, the Stormers’ development pathway is proving to be fruitful and keeping the majority of their youth in their system seems to be paying off in the long run.
