Jantjies' left boot got him benched
The need to counter the Bulls' vaunted kicking game forced Stormers coach Allister Coetzee to drop Lions loan flyhalf Elton Jantjies to the bench.
Coetzee made four changes and one positional switch to his team for the big north-south Super Rugby derby at Newlands on Saturday.
The return of Springbok captain Jean de Villiers, who has recovered from his sternum injury and will lead the Stormers, tops the list of changes.
De Villiers missed the Stormers' last two wins, over the Cheetahs and the Kings, but returns to the starting line-up – with Damian de Allende dropping to the bench.
The other changes see Gio Aplon shifting from wing to fullback (in place of the injured Joe Pietersen), Gerhard van den Heever coming onto the right wing in the space vacated by Aplon's move to No.15, with Gary van Aswegen starting at flyhalf ahead of Jantjies and Rynhardt Elstadt returning at No.7 in place of Don Armand (another players dropping to the bench).
Aplon's shift to fullback is an injury enforced change, while Coetzee said Van den Heever deserves his call-up, he has played very well.
The decision to bring the fit again De Villiers and Elstadt was to be expected.
But the flyhalf selection was the biggest point of debate.
"The Bulls have a good kicking game and they [always] look for territory," Coetzee told a media briefing at Newlands, when asked about his decision about the starting No.10.
"For us it is important to have a right-foot-left-foot [kicking] option in the team – like we had with [the right-footed] Joe Pietersen, Gio Aplon and Elton Jantjies.
"Gary [van Aswegen] is a right-footed kicker, otherwise we would have sat with Gio [Aplon] and Elton [Jantjies] both left-footed kickers.
"It is important to have both a right-footed and a left-footed options in your team to get out of your territory."
Coetzee also confirmed that Van Aswegen will take over the goal-kicking, in the absence of the injured Pietersen and if Jantjies comes on off the bench he will have the responsibility of taking kicks at goal.
By Jan de Koning
