Stormers to load up on serious Bok muscle
INTERVIEW: The Stormers are set to get some serious Springbok muscle back when they host the Lions in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Round 12 fixture – brought forward after Rounds Six and Seven were dramatically cancelled at the weekend – will see South African teams in action for the first time since the November international window.
Dawie Snyman, the Stormers’ backline and attack coach, said it was a “big disappointment” that last week’s encounter with Italian outfit Zebre was called off, as it was part of their long-term planning.
Now they have to shift focus to hosting the Lions in Cape Town on Saturday.
“It is of great importance to us that we get to play this week,” Snyman said.
“Our business is to play, but it is the times we are living in – we can’t control [certain] things and it is a changing environment.
“We are grateful that we will be able to be on the pitch on Saturday.”
The assistant coach confirmed that Springbok locks Salmaan Moerat and Marvin Orie have returned to training, after sitting out last week.
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“[Utility back] Damian Willemse trained with us last week,” he told @rugby365com, adding: “He was available for selection against Zebre.
“He needs to get tome off at some stage, so we still have to make a call about him.
“The other two – [Moerat and Orie] – are ready to play.”
Prop Steven Kitshoff and Herschel Jantjies, who both featured in all three matches on the year-end tour, are not yet back with the team.
Snyman said they will only return after the Christmas break.
“They have been involved in all the Test matches,” he said of the Rugby Championship and year-end tour, adding: “They need a bit of a break, so they are recharging at the moment.
“They are spending some time with their families, having been in a few [lockdown] bubbles and a lot of time away from home.
“In the new year, when we start playing again, they will be back in the squad and preparing with us.”
Orie last featured for the Springboks against Australia in a Rugby Championship match in September.
Moerat is yet to make his Bok debut.
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