While the Stormers are set to welcome back Springbok No 8 Evan Roos for this weekend's Champions Cup clash against the Sale Sharks at Cape Town Stadium, doubt remains over the fitness of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Roos is one of three players exchanging the treatment room for the pitch, with prop Sti Sithole and English wing Ben Loader also back in training with the Cape side after long-term injuries.
Roos last featured for the Springboks during the June Tests against Wales and Portugal, but has spent the next six months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury. Loader has been out since last season with a knee injury, while Sithole has been nursing an ankle injury for the last three months.
Roos will add a lot of power and his dynamic ability with ball in hand to the Stormers' cause. He will certainly boost the loose trio stocks, although the Stormers back row played really well in their recent United Rugby Championship match against the Sharks.
“Evan has started training with us, and Zas has trained on and off. It’s slow but sure [on Roos],” Stormers assistant coach Norman Laker said on Tuesday. “Sti is back in training, and Ben Loader is also training, and they’ll be available.”
“Roos is a very impactful player, especially if he gets the ball in his hands,” Laker said. “He and Marcel [Theunissen] play a very similar type of rugby and the team gets good momentum if they get the ball.
“We’ve all seen what Evan can do if he gets the ball, he’s scored some very impressive tries for the Stormers, sometimes running almost 50 metres. His energy on attack is great for the team.”
However, the bad news for Stormers fans is that Feinberg-Mngomezulu, captain and centre Dan du Plessis and wing Leolin Zas are still making their way back from injury.
Du Plessis has been sidelined with a knee injury since November and is in a race against time to be fit for the Stormers URC tour, which starts with a tough assignment against Leinster on January 25.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu seemed to aggravate a shoulder injury in the meeting with the Sharks and Saturday match may be a week too soon for his return to action.
“Sacha didn’t train this week … we still await an update on his injury and can’t say whether it’s a day or a week or two,” Laker said.
“It’s 50-50 if Dan goes on tour [the next two weeks],” he added. “He’ll take his time when he comes back so that he is 100% fit. A knee injury is not nice so sometimes you rather take an extra week off or risk nine months on the sidelines.”
@JohnGoliath82