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Cape Town - The Stormers will transfer from Sydney to Canberra on Friday ahead of their third Super Rugby tour match against the Brumbies on Saturday.
The squad has been based in Coogee this week and preparations have gone well ahead of their clash against the reigning Australian Conference champions (kick-off 10:40 SA time).
And speaking shortly after announcing the Stormers team to take on the Brumbies, head coach Allister Coetzee explained: "Demetri Catrakilis, the reserve scrumhalf Louis Schreuder and even Juan de Jongh will all be expected to play a crucial role late in the game, with Demetri's potential to put over drop-goals perhaps a key to breaking any deadlock should there be one going into the last minutes.
"The reserves played a big role in bringing us back into the game against the Chiefs last week, and we are going to use them to up the tempo when the opposition are suffering from 'dead' legs.
"Ruan Botha played No 4 against the Chiefs and we felt it would be unfair to move him now," continued Coetzee.
"Michael Rhodes will call the lineouts, and he has done that before. Obviously he will also have a bit of help from Duane Vermeulen.
"Brok Harris was really good against the Chiefs but you have to remember the contribution that Frans (Malherbe) made before he was injured. Brok is another guy who can make a big impact off the bench."
Meanwhile, Stormers vice-captain Schalk Burger on Wednesday spoke today about the team's need to cut down their error-rate against of their clash in Canberra - where they tasted victory in their previous encounter in 2011.
"If we cut down our error-rate, we will have more continuity in our game as we saw in the second half against the Chiefs," said Burger.
"We spoke to the Chiefs afterwards and they felt the first half was some of the best rugby they've played this season. We were trailing by 6-10 going into half-time, but that try just
before the break saw us go into half-time down by 11 points.
"Us older guys knew the game would come our way at some point, after all that's how the game goes, and we certainly had them under pressure in the second half, which proves what we can achieve with continuity in our game."
Teams:
Brumbies:
TBA
Stormers:
15. Gio Aplon, 14. Kobus van Wyk, 13. Jean de Villiers (captain), 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10. Peter Grant, 9. Nic Groom, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Schalk Burger, 6. Deon Fourie, 5. Michael Rhodes, 4. Ruan Botha, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1. Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16. Stephan Coetzee, 17. Oliver Kebble, 18. Brok Harris, 19. Siya Kolisi, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Louis Schreuder, 22. Demetri Catrakilis, 23. Juan de Jongh
The squad has been based in Coogee this week and preparations have gone well ahead of their clash against the reigning Australian Conference champions (kick-off 10:40 SA time).
And speaking shortly after announcing the Stormers team to take on the Brumbies, head coach Allister Coetzee explained: "Demetri Catrakilis, the reserve scrumhalf Louis Schreuder and even Juan de Jongh will all be expected to play a crucial role late in the game, with Demetri's potential to put over drop-goals perhaps a key to breaking any deadlock should there be one going into the last minutes.
"The reserves played a big role in bringing us back into the game against the Chiefs last week, and we are going to use them to up the tempo when the opposition are suffering from 'dead' legs.
"Ruan Botha played No 4 against the Chiefs and we felt it would be unfair to move him now," continued Coetzee.
"Michael Rhodes will call the lineouts, and he has done that before. Obviously he will also have a bit of help from Duane Vermeulen.
"Brok Harris was really good against the Chiefs but you have to remember the contribution that Frans (Malherbe) made before he was injured. Brok is another guy who can make a big impact off the bench."
Meanwhile, Stormers vice-captain Schalk Burger on Wednesday spoke today about the team's need to cut down their error-rate against of their clash in Canberra - where they tasted victory in their previous encounter in 2011.
"If we cut down our error-rate, we will have more continuity in our game as we saw in the second half against the Chiefs," said Burger.
"We spoke to the Chiefs afterwards and they felt the first half was some of the best rugby they've played this season. We were trailing by 6-10 going into half-time, but that try just
before the break saw us go into half-time down by 11 points.
"Us older guys knew the game would come our way at some point, after all that's how the game goes, and we certainly had them under pressure in the second half, which proves what we can achieve with continuity in our game."
Teams:
Brumbies:
TBA
Stormers:
15. Gio Aplon, 14. Kobus van Wyk, 13. Jean de Villiers (captain), 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10. Peter Grant, 9. Nic Groom, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Schalk Burger, 6. Deon Fourie, 5. Michael Rhodes, 4. Ruan Botha, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1. Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16. Stephan Coetzee, 17. Oliver Kebble, 18. Brok Harris, 19. Siya Kolisi, 20. Nizaam Carr, 21. Louis Schreuder, 22. Demetri Catrakilis, 23. Juan de Jongh
