Allister Coetzee named his 22 man squad to take on the Chiefs in the DHL Stormers’ first home game of the season this Saturday.
After suffering 2 straight defeats Coetzee has largely chosen to stick with the same team that lost to the Sharks in a very disjointed performance last Saturday. The match day 15 remains unchanged with Dewald Duvenhage coming onto the bench at the expense of Louis Schreuder and Tiaan Liebenberg in place of Martin Bezuidenhout.
The Stormers have struggled in a few areas so far this season, with set pieces being the main culprit. In spite of this weakness Coetzee has stuck with Deon Fourie at hooker, with Tiaan Liebenberg coming onto the bench after returning from injury.
Fourie had a superb Currie Cup campaign, but playing as an opensider in the loose trio. Fourie had planned to continue his career in France after the 2012 season but was persuaded to stay, albeit at hooker for the 2013 season. Fourie has always been a great player who’s turnover rate and loose work has impressed, but at the the same time has struggled to consistently find his jumpers in the line outs, putting a great deal of pressure on the first phase ball for the Stormers and weakening one of the primary attacking platforms in the game.
On Saturday the Stormers pack was bested by a very motivated Sharks pack loaded with Springboks but it is not going to be any easier against the championship winning Chiefs this weekend. Fourie must be feeling the pressure at this stage, but for parts of the game this weekend we can expect more of the same, as he seems unable to master the technical requirements of playing in the number 2 position at this level of the game.
Coetzee has continued to show faith in Elton Jantjies who looked better last weekend than he did in the season opener against the Bulls and Stormers fans will be hoping to see further improvement this weekend. Peter Grant once again provides flyhalf cover from the bench.
Juan De Jong is not yet being risked after his injury in the pre-season and the Stormers management seem to be taking a (rightfully) conservative approach to managing injuries this year, after a spate of critical breakdowns last year left the franchise weakened at the business end of the competition.
Regardless of the team selection, the squad will be feeling the pressure with the home team playing in front of a packed stadium which will hopefully spur them on to their first win. Failure to do so will leave them 0 – 3 so far and that is a mountain they will be wanting to avoid climbing at all costs.
The DHL Stormers team to take on the Chiefs is as follows:
15. Joe Pietersen
14. Gio Aplon
13. Jean de Villiers (Captain)
12. Damian de Allende
11. Bryan Habana
10. Elton Jantjies
9. Nic Groom
8. Duane Vermeulen
7. Rynhardt Elstadt
6. Siya Kolisi
5. Andries Bekker
4. De Kock Steenkamp
3. Frans Malherbe
2. Deon Fourie
1. Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:
16. Tiaan Liebenberg
17. Pat Cilliers
18. Don Armand
19. Nizaam Carr
20. Dewaldt Duvenage
21. Peter Grant
22. Gerhard van den Heever
Referee: Jaco Peyper
I personally feel that this team is playing with weaknesses in critical areas and will find it hard going this weekend.
2 @ Stormersboy:
Howzit bud, where do you see weakness? For now it is your front row and probably your half backs. Think the more Elton plays the better he will get. The more AC plays Elton it will make him believe in himself and bring back his confidence. Do hope Elton has a big game on Saturday. Feel for him so hope he comes right. I was expecting more from Groom too.
Look at it this way, it can hardly go any worse
We do miss our no 4 enforser a lot, it’s pretty obvious but glad Tiaan is back on the bench to strenthen the scrum in the 2nd half
I have a general problem with De Allende and thus can’t wait for a playmaker like JdJ to return
We can only hope and trust that Jantjies will rediscover his X-factor and sommer vinnig ook
Longing for the days when Gio actually got the ball on attack and Habanna need to strat looking for work again
But we keep our hopes up and at this stage I will be staisfied with an improvement
All the best Stormers hope they manage to beat the Chiefs.
3 @ Gena_ZA:
Good luck to your Stormers this Saturday bud, I really hope they beat the Chiefs. With Stormers defence it will frustrate the hell out of them, doubt they will play like they done against the Cheetahs. Also home ground advantage for Stormers. I am going with Chiefs by a few on bru, but hell I wont care about points if Stormers can beat them. Would be great if they went back to NZ after their saffa tour and not go back with the full points from here.
@ Puma:
Set pieces are the real problem, we need to solidify the scrummaging and lock down the line outs.
Tiaan will help on both fronts, I have no problem with Elton staying in the team, especially with Joe at 15.
I would also give GVDH a try, he is eager, fit and will bring a physical edge to the back three IMO.
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