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Gavin Rich - SuperSport
Cape Town - Stormers coach Allister Coetzee says that Peter Grant could have lined up against the Bulls at Newlands on Saturday but he has enough confidence in young Kurt Coleman to back the rookie in the big Super Rugby derby.
Grant was running on the side of the field as the Stormers trained at the High Performance Centre in Bellville on Wednesday and does not look far from being ready to wear the No 10 again. However, with the prospect of possibly as many as Super Rugby Series games to look forward to in addition to the remaining two league games, Coetzee has taken the wise path of not risking his first choice flyhalf.
“You would have seen Peter running today and he has made a lot of progress. At a push he could have played for us on Saturday but I think we will gain more in the long run by protecting Peter this week,” said Coetzee.
“But I have full confidence in Kurt. He will face a lot of pressure on Saturday but then he was under pressure when he made his first start for us in Australia and he has made the step up. It is all part of his apprenticeship.”
Coetzee has made just two changes to the team that beat the Rebels 40-3 in Melbourne last week, with Andries Bekker making his anticipated return at lock for an eagerly awaited showdown with Victor Matfield in the lineouts. The other change is a minor surprise, with Deon Fourie returning in place of Tiaan Liebenberg, who made his first start last week and played well.
“Deon is our first choice hooker at the moment. He has had a great season and has taken his opportunity. He was our hooker when we beat the Bulls in Pretoria in the first round and when we beat the Sharks in Durban. So while Tiaan player really well, and it is great to have such a big competition for places, we are backing Deon as our hooker.”
Mindful of the Bulls’ policy of putting a big emphasis on the impact of their forward reserves in the second half, the Stormers have opted for a five/two bench split this weekend, with Dewaldt Duvenage serving as both back-up flyhalf and scrumhalf for this match.
Coetzee said he had retained Ricky Januarie as his starting No9 as he had played well against the Rebels but it could prove a questionable selection if Coleman does not settle early in the Bulls game and get his tactical game right.
The Stormers are going into a match against one of the best kicking games in the competition with a scrumhalf and two centres who are not renowned as good field kickers and a flyhalf who is new to this level of competition. There shouldn’t be any prizes for predicting that this is the area that the Bulls will target as the main building block in their quest for the victory that will keep them alive in the competition.
In keeping with their policy of backing the youth, Coetzee deserves credit for retaining the young prop duo of Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe on the reserve bench for such a big game. CJ van der Linde is still out with a groin injury.
“Steven is not yet 20 and Frans is also very young but I was very impressed with the way both of them performed for us on the overseas tour,” said Coetzee.
“Obviously we all know the Bulls have a policy of playing with 12 forwards in the way they use all their reserves and we need to be ready for that. It is the reason we have gone with a five/two split between forwards and backs.”
Teams:
Stormers:
15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Gio Aplon, 13, Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw
Substitutes: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Anton van Zyl, 20 Nick Koster, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Juan de Jongh
Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner; 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Derick Kuun, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Stephan Dippenaar
Cape Town - Stormers coach Allister Coetzee says that Peter Grant could have lined up against the Bulls at Newlands on Saturday but he has enough confidence in young Kurt Coleman to back the rookie in the big Super Rugby derby.
Grant was running on the side of the field as the Stormers trained at the High Performance Centre in Bellville on Wednesday and does not look far from being ready to wear the No 10 again. However, with the prospect of possibly as many as Super Rugby Series games to look forward to in addition to the remaining two league games, Coetzee has taken the wise path of not risking his first choice flyhalf.
“You would have seen Peter running today and he has made a lot of progress. At a push he could have played for us on Saturday but I think we will gain more in the long run by protecting Peter this week,” said Coetzee.
“But I have full confidence in Kurt. He will face a lot of pressure on Saturday but then he was under pressure when he made his first start for us in Australia and he has made the step up. It is all part of his apprenticeship.”
Coetzee has made just two changes to the team that beat the Rebels 40-3 in Melbourne last week, with Andries Bekker making his anticipated return at lock for an eagerly awaited showdown with Victor Matfield in the lineouts. The other change is a minor surprise, with Deon Fourie returning in place of Tiaan Liebenberg, who made his first start last week and played well.
“Deon is our first choice hooker at the moment. He has had a great season and has taken his opportunity. He was our hooker when we beat the Bulls in Pretoria in the first round and when we beat the Sharks in Durban. So while Tiaan player really well, and it is great to have such a big competition for places, we are backing Deon as our hooker.”
Mindful of the Bulls’ policy of putting a big emphasis on the impact of their forward reserves in the second half, the Stormers have opted for a five/two bench split this weekend, with Dewaldt Duvenage serving as both back-up flyhalf and scrumhalf for this match.
Coetzee said he had retained Ricky Januarie as his starting No9 as he had played well against the Rebels but it could prove a questionable selection if Coleman does not settle early in the Bulls game and get his tactical game right.
The Stormers are going into a match against one of the best kicking games in the competition with a scrumhalf and two centres who are not renowned as good field kickers and a flyhalf who is new to this level of competition. There shouldn’t be any prizes for predicting that this is the area that the Bulls will target as the main building block in their quest for the victory that will keep them alive in the competition.
In keeping with their policy of backing the youth, Coetzee deserves credit for retaining the young prop duo of Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe on the reserve bench for such a big game. CJ van der Linde is still out with a groin injury.
“Steven is not yet 20 and Frans is also very young but I was very impressed with the way both of them performed for us on the overseas tour,” said Coetzee.
“Obviously we all know the Bulls have a policy of playing with 12 forwards in the way they use all their reserves and we need to be ready for that. It is the reason we have gone with a five/two split between forwards and backs.”
Teams:
Stormers:
15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Gio Aplon, 13, Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw
Substitutes: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Anton van Zyl, 20 Nick Koster, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Juan de Jongh
Bulls:
15 Zane Kirchner; 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Derick Kuun, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Stephan Dippenaar
