Cape Town - The Stormers are up against it without their Springboks against an experienced Scarlets outfit, but coach John Dobson has urged his young group to “surprise and delight” their fans at Cape Town Stadium on Friday night (7pm kickoff).
Even though Wales are playing Australia on Saturday, the Scarlets were still able to pick a team with seasoned internationals such as centre and captain Jonathan Davies, scrumhalf Gareth Davies and former Tongan loose forward Sione Kalamafoni.
Dobson remarked on Thursday that the Llanelli outfit had nearly 300 Test caps in their match-23 compared to about 24 in his squad, courtesy of hooker Joseph Dweba and scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies.
They are missing their heavyweight Springboks – as well as classy youngster Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who will be out of action until January with a shin injury – but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have any hope of toppling a streetwise Scarlets side on Friday.
“The two-week break was incredibly good for us, especially for what we are about to go through. I don’t think any of us have gone through something like this, starting tomorrow night,” Dobson said.
“We’ve got a plan with what we are trying to do, and it takes a bit of… we have to swallow a little bit, because in South Africa, you normally want your best team (to play every game) on the field.
“But we are going to need these guys, and for the development of the franchise, they are going to surprise and delight a lot of people tomorrow.
“We’ve just got to be brave and blood them (youngsters). There isn’t one guy I am worried about. If we catch a bit of backlash because of the result, we will be much better off in terms of the shape of the squad – in the short-term or long-term.
“We are proud that we have 16 guys away, but it was a great time to get some team-building and invest in this group, as they have a job to do to try to get us wins over the next few weeks. I’ve got no question that it is the right thing to do.”
One newcomer is former UCT lock Gary Porter, who will be on his URC debut at the age of 26, but who Dobson said reminded him of former captain Chris van Zyl as a “late bloomer… he could have 100 Stormers caps by 33”.
But someone who many Stormers fans will be excited to see back in action is 21-year-old flyhalf Kade Wolhuter, who is making his way back to top-flight rugby after a serious knee ligament injury that kept him out for about a year.
He will have big boots to fill in the No 10 jersey in the absence of Springboks Manie Libbok and Damian Willemse, but was a junior star who has all the skills to spearhead the Stormers attack on Friday.
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“It was a big injury, and coming back to play for the Stormers on this field is a big moment for him. It was a much more traumatic injury that people realise… You need a bit of confidence, and hopefully tomorrow, this is his first step,” Dobson said.
“He’s going to take a bit of time to reach his potential, because his potential is very high. But there is no better place to do that on the field, and I am excited to see it.
“One thing we got right last year is absolute clarity on our game model, and knowing exactly our position and what we want.
“There is a difference between Manie and Kade, and that is part of the coaching journey we are on with Kade.
“Kade is a very traditional South African flyhalf. Manie is not quite Warrick (Gelant), but we are not always sure what’s coming out – he is a different-style flyhalf.
“We want Kade to flatten out a bit on his attack, get his Manie traits… And that’s not going to happen instantly.
“But we’ve got a plan tomorrow that allows Kade to start that transition. We can’t go back to a flyhalf who was 10 yards back in the pocket – that would be retrogressive.
“Since he came back, his confidence levels is much higher. In the pre-season against the Sharks, he was worried about the injury. We have plans tomorrow because we know the Scarlets do rush a bit onto the first receiver.”
Teams
Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies 14 Angelo Davids 13 Cornel Smit 12 Dan du Plessis 11 Leolin Zas 10 Kade Wolhuter 9 Paul de Wet 8 Hacjivah Dayimani 7 Marcel Theunissen 6 Junior Pokomela 5 Gary Porter 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain) 3 Neethling Fouche 2 Joseph Dweba 1 Ali Vermaak.
Bench: 16 JJ Kotze 17 Leon Lyons 18 Sazi Sandi 19 Connor Evans 20 Ben-Jason Dixon 21 Nama Xaba 22 Herschel Jantjies 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis.
Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl 14 Tom Rogers 13 Jonathan Davies (captain) 12 Scott Williams 11 Ryan Conbeer 10 Dan Jones 9 Gareth Davies 8 Sione Kalamafoni 7 Dan Davis 6 Aaron Shingler 5 Tom Price 4 Sam Lousi 3 Harri O’Connor 2 Daf Hughes 1 Steff Thomas.
Bench: 16 Taylor Davies 17 Kemsley Mathias 18 WillGriff John 19 Blade Thomson 20 Tomas Lezana 21 Archie Hughes 22 Rhys Patchell 23 Steff Evans.
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