Vermeulen champing at the bit
Stormers loose forward Duane Vermeulen remains on the doubtful list, but he was back on the training pitch on Tuesday.
Forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot revealed that they are likely to delay a decision on the No.8's availability – for the semifinal encounter with the Sharks on Saturday – for as long as [possible.
Vermeulen, who was listed as a "65 to 70 percent" chance of playing, did not take part in training on Monday – as the Cape Town-based franchise stepped up their preparations for the all-South African semifinal at Newlands.
However, by Tuesday he returned to training.
"We did defence [drills] and you are not going to keep Duane out of a defensive session," Proudfoot told this website.
"Obviously we are going to make this call a late as possible," the forwards mentor said, adding: "We want to make an informed decision about where we feel were he is.
"We know he can play rugby, he is fit to play.
"However, is he fit for a semifinal?.
"We don't want to make an emotional decision based on: 'We know how important Duane is, let's put him in the side.'
"We learned that lesson in 2010 by picking guys [for the Final] just coming back from injury.
"We are going to wait as long as possible to make the decision," Proudfoot said, adding that they may leave it till the captain's run on Friday.
* Meanwhile Proudfoot said they have no timeframe for the return of Springbok loose forward Schalk Burger, who has been sidelined since he injured his knee in the opening match of the season back in February.
The Stormers have been reluctant to put any time frame on Burger's return, amidst rumours that his injury is far worse than expected and he might even miss the inaugural Rugby Championship that gets underway next month.
"Once they said he is not ready yet [for the Super Rugby play-offs], we did our planning without him," Proudfoot told this website.
"We will take a look and revisit it when we are finished with the competition," he said of Burger's situation.
The veteran Bok loose forward has not even started any serious training and his rehabilitation is going much slower than expected.
By Jan de Koning
