VIDEO: Stormers provide some good news for Boks
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Despite the huge uncertainty, the Stormers will have a full-strength squad when rugby in South Africa eventually returns.
SA Rugby has been formulating plans for an eight-team domestic competition, starting at the end of August or the beginning of September.
The teams for that competition are the Bulls, Lions, Cheetahs, Sharks, Southern Kings, Stormers, Pumas and Griquas.
According to Jurie Roux, it is vital to get the players back on the field, before the national team embark on any international campaign.
While, Roux revealed there will be no home Test matches, the Springboks could participate in the Rugby Championship in New Zealand which is scheduled to run over a reduced six-week period between November 7 and December 12
The possibility of live matches is certainly welcoming news, and it will mean that Springboks like Siya Kolisi, Bongi Mbonambi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Herschel Jantjies and Steven Kitshoff have a couple of weeks to return from their respective injuries.
Captain Kolisi (knee) and hooker Mbonambi (hamstring) suffered long-term injuries during the Stormers opening Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes, followed by injuries to fellow Springbok World Cup winners Du Toit (leg), Kitshoff (torn chest muscle) and Jantjies (leg).
Stormers team doctor Jason Suter has revealed some good news, stating that all those Springboks stars will be ready for the domestic competition.
However, he admitted that under the current return-to-training protocols it is very challenging to provide a full report on the players’ injury update and readiness to play.
“We are following government guidelines and following the recommendations in terms of preparing our team for possible competition later this year,” Suter said.
“We are limited to non-contact fitness work for the first two weeks, which were are doing now.
“Everyone is on track however all the players are stuck in the training load and rehabilitation phase, they can’t do contact and progression, so until that is completed we can’t give accurate reports on readiness to play.”
He explained: “The good news is that Kitsie [Kitsoff] will be ready to train fully with the team from Monday, and Bongi [Mbonambi] will be able to participate in full team training from the end of next week and Pieter-Steph [du Toit] should be the same.
“Siya [Kolisi] is already back in training and Jantjies will be back in full training with the team from Monday.
He added: “We are relying on the fact that we will be a month of non-contact work followed by a month where we reintroduce contact to get the players ready to play again, so there is no reason why they shouldn’t be ready for the first game,”
Meanwhile, Springboks fullback Warrick Gelant has documented his first day of training with his new teammates.
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There is nothing like your first day🌪️🌪️🌪️ @THESTORMERS pic.twitter.com/KguYwDFIp2
— Warrick Gelant (@WarrickGelant) July 22, 2020
Part 2 @THESTORMERS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OHWuhXC2q5
— Warrick Gelant (@WarrickGelant) July 22, 2020
