Stormers sweat on experienced duo ahead of 'pressure cooker' Boland clash

INJURY UPDATE: The Stormers XXIII are hoping to have two of their most experienced players available for their Round Two Currie Cup clash against Boland in Wellington on Sunday.

Former Scotland international prop Oli Kebble and season captain Jean Luc du Plessis is in doubt for the clash against the Kavaliers, who bagged a solid win against the Bulls at home this past Sunday.

Assistant coach Helmut Lehmann confirmed that they are awaiting feedback from the medical staff before the duo can be considered for selection.

“Oli [Kebble] was medically assessed on Monday. He had a scan on his shoulder.

“He didn’t partake in training today [Tuesday] and yesterday, and we’ll make a decision on his availability, especially when we get the proper feedback from our doctors in terms of the extent of his injury.

“JL [Jean Luc du Plessis] also didn’t partake in the past two days’ training.

“The nine-day turnaround gives us a little bit more time for the guys to sort their niggles out.

“He left the field [against Griquas] with a niggle, but we’ll hopefully, before Thursday’s team announcement, know from the medical side whether he’s available for selection or not.”

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Lehmann said they’re expecting a “pressure cooker” match when the Western Cape neighbours meet in Wellington on Sunday.

“Boland is currently a well-established team. They’ve been playing together for over two years.

“The coaching staff in Pote [Human], Hawies [Fourie] and Charl [Strydom] there with some proper signings that they’ve made and the team as a whole – they’ve got a proper setup.

“The way they play on Sundays, or in fact in any game, whether it’s away from home, it’s exciting rugby that brings people to the ground.

“That’s where the pressure cooker comes in. They’re a highly organised team playing an exciting, attacking brand of rugby and that’s why it’s highly effective in the way they play.

“That pressure cooker comes because they play so well. People come out on a Sunday to support their team.”

The forwards coach added that the Stormers must get their discipline right before the Round Two clash – an area in which they lacked badly against Griquas.

“One hundred percent. That [ill-discipline] was the frustrating part about the game against Griquas,” Lehmann told Rugby365.

“Our discipline was poor, and it’s something we spoke about at halftime. There was a bit of an improvement during the second half, but overall it placed the team under a lot of pressure.

“With this nine-day turnaround – we are on day two of addressing that aspect of our game and looking at where we can improve because it won’t be good for us if we continue with that trend, especially against Boland at home.

“So we’ll need to quickly improve our discipline this weekend.”

The two teams met in a pre-season friendly three weeks ago where Boland recorded a convincing 54-26 win, but Lehmann believes the Stormers are in a better space and up for the challenge this week.

“They were very good that day, and they are a very good team. Having another opportunity three weeks later makes us excited about the possibility of improving on that performance.

“That match specifically, they came out guns blazing. You could see they were together for quite some time as a collective; they understand each other, they’ve got a proper squad and coaching staff too.

“We aren’t expecting anything less, but I feel three weeks down the line we are in a much better position currently to go to Boland and face that challenge again.”