VIDEO: Dobson discusses his Siya conundrum
PRE-SEASON SPOTLIGHT: Watch as new Stormers coach John Dobson sits down for a wide-ranging chat about pre-season and the 2020 Super Rugby campaign.
While the Springboks are still shaking off their World Cup hangover, Dobson is looking at ways to reintroduce them into the Stormers culture to ensure he gets early momentum with his team of superstars.
The sevens players from the World Cup squad are not available till mid-December, while star loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit will be given additional time off.
However, the workload of victorious Springbok captain Siyamthanda Kolisi will have to be carefully managed to avoid the danger of ‘burnout’.
“Siya will be the skipper,” Dobson told a media gathering at the team’s headquarters in Bellville.
He said he wants things to “settle down” first after the euphoria of South Africa’s World Cup win, before he will sit down for a chat with the Stormers and Bok skipper.
“[We will] maybe [rest him] on the odd week or something like that,” Dobson said of Kolisi’s workload, adding: “Steven Kitshoff did a great job as captain this year.
” I would be guided by him [Kolisi] about when to rest him and when not.
“He is the captain and he will be the leader of the group.”
The Stormers coach said he shudders to think of the demands being made of Kolisi at the moment.
“We are going to have to manage him.”
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He also spoke of the need to get momentum early in this competition”, before considering resting his Springboks.
“We go on tour, later in the competition, which is when there may be the window where – if things go well – some of those guys will get a bit of a break.”
Dobson said the World Cup Springboks will give his team a massive boost and confidence.
“The opposition, when they sit down and see five of the pack that played [in the World Cup Final against England] on November 2, [that] will give us a lot of confidence,” he said of players like Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (as captain), Frans Malherbe, Mbongeni Mbonambi and Steven Kitshoff
Then there are backs like Herschel Jantjies and Damian Willemse
“There is a management issue around it,” the coach said, adding: “We start off with six or seven of the first nine matches at home.
“From a business point of view, from a public expectation point of view, we need to win those games.
“We can’t run out without Siya [Kolisi] and Pieter-Steph [du Toit] in those games.
“We don’t have the luxury of [some] New Zealand [teams], who take the approach of ‘we’ll catch you later’.
“We have to get momentum early.
“It is going to be tough getting them into rugby conditioning over Christmas,” Dobson said, adding that the fact that Super Rugby starts two weeks earlier than last year is significant.
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