The Stormers should have regular captain Salmaan Moerat (middle) and veteran Deon Fourie (right) back for their crucial final four games of the regular URC season in a couple of weeks.
Image: Backpagepix
John Dobson’s biggest headache over the next four games in the United Rugby Championship (URC) will be how to fit all his trump cards into one hand as his side pushes for a playoff place in the competition.
They will play their final round-robin matches all at home, and while they are outside of the top eight following a 38-34 loss to Ulster in Belfast this past Friday, they will know precisely what is needed to make the playoffs.
The Stormers, currently 10th, will face Connacht, Benneton, the Dragons and Cardiff at the DHL Stadium and all four games are winnable with a full house of points. Director of rugby Dobson must only figure out over the next couple of weeks what his team selections will look like as they chase to end amongst the top six at least.
He split the more settled centre combination of Wandisile Simelane and Dan du Plessis to accommodate the return of utility back Suleiman Hartzenberg against Ulster. But that experiment did not pan out as expected, and the defensive organisation wasn’t up to its standard at the Kingspan Stadium. The injured trio of fullback Warrick Gelant, captain Salmaan Moerat and loose forward Deon Fourie was missed as well.
Still, they were happy with how the two tour games panned out.
“Taking seven points on tour, we would’ve loved eight, but in that sense, it was mission accomplished going into the four home games,” Dobson said.
“It does mean that the final four are non-negotiable matches, but we are very much alive in the competition. If you had told us we would get seven points on the away tour against teams very close to us on the log, we would’ve taken it. But I can’t help but feel we beat ourselves against Ulster.”
The Cape side enjoyed a 17-0 lead in that first half in Belfast. Their discipline and some ordinary defence let them down, though, and penalties, coupled with two cards, where they played with 13 men at a stage, hampered them. Lost lineouts also squandered attacking opportunities and a chance to clinch the game late.
While Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu starred again in the flyhalf jersey, his yellow card opened the door for two Ulster tries on either side of the halftime whistle. It opened the door for the home side’s comeback. It was a silly shoulder challenge, and although the Ulster winger flopped to the ground like a soccer player, Feinberg-Mngomezulu should’ve avoided the contact.
The red card to Neethling Fouché for a dangerous tackle is still a hot topic and should the Stormers not contest it, they look set to play without their top scrummager for at least two of the last four games. If he gets a midrange sanction, he could miss all four clashes.
Gelant, Moerat, Fourie and the resting tighthead Frans Malherbe should all be back for the final games, which means Dobson and his assistants will have to plan carefully just how they will select their starting team.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Willemse and Gelant in the same run-on side is a must, but that will require some other regulars to make space and potentially miss out.