The last thing the DHL Stormers need ahead of the new Vodacom Super Rugby season is more injuries at lock, so even though coach Allister Coetzee is confident there is nothing to worry about, the squad will nonetheless be waiting with bated breath for results of a scan conducted at the weekend on Rynhardt Elstadt’s ribs.
The powerfully built forward came off at halftime of the 40 / 7 win over the Southern Kings in a warm-up match in Port Elizabeth with sore ribs. According to Coetzee, he was walking comfortably afterwards, but nonetheless he underwent a scan on the affected area, the results of which will be made available on Monday.
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“He was the only injury concern to come out of the Kings game, but we are positive about it as he was walking easily after the game and usually if there is a fracture to the ribs a player really struggles to move,” said Coetzee.
Why the Stormers can’t afford to go without Elstadt is because second row has become a problem area for them in the pre-season due to the injuries to Eben Etzebeth and De Kock Steenkamp that will prevent last year’s first choice Western Province combination from starting to the season. And with Andries Bekker now playing in Japan, an area of wealth is now suspect, though there are several exciting young locks such as Jean Kleyn and Ruan Botha coming through.
The good news though is that Manuel Carizza, the Argentina test lock recruited by the Stormers for Super Rugby, made a strong debut for the Cape side in Port Elizabeth.
“Manuel, in his first game, got through 80 minutes, and Michael Rhodes was impressive at lock when he came on,” said Coetzee.
The Stormers scored four tries in the first warm-up game against the Vodacom Bulls in Polokwane the previous week and six against the Kings, thus bringing to 10 the total tries scored in two pre-season matches. Given that try scoring has been a perceived problem for the Stormers in recent seasons, that is a big positive, and Coetzee was particularly pleased with the driving maul, which he said was particularly impressive in Port Elizabeth.
“The maul is something we look to work on in the pre-season and it is something we look to develop during matches and that went really well in this last game. Our conversion rate has been good. Five of our 10 tries have been from the maul.”
Coetzee was pleased with the strong showing that Jaco Taute put in during his first half an hour on the field since being ruled out for most of last year with an injury sustained against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, and was also again enthused by the contribution made by Kobus van Wyk on the wing.
“We didn’t play Kobus for the whole game but he did well when he was on and I saw enough to make him a strong contender for a starting place in Super Rugby,” said Coetzee.
So the problem area everyone appears to be talking about, the perceived lack of physical presence at the back, might not be such a problem area when the season starts, particularly if Taute builds further on his performance against the Kings when the Stormers complete the warm-up phase against Boland next week. A strong showing in Wellington could be enough to see Taute go into the mix for the opening Super Rugby game against the Lions on 22 February.