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Schalk, Elstadt sidelined

Gavin Rich - SuperSport

Johannesburg - The DHL Stormers team that will be announced later on Wednesday for Saturday’s Super Rugby match against the Western Force at Newlands will be without regular captain Schalk Burger and inform lock Rynhardt Elstadt.

Burger has failed to recover from the knee strain that has kept him sidelined for the last couple of weeks, and coach Allister Coetzee is taking a cautious approach as he does not want to risk Burger aggravating the injury.

Elstadt has been in great form this season and the Stormers will definitely want him to be available for what should be a highly physical confrontation with the Sharks in Durban in two weeks. However the ankle injury that forced him off the field against the Bulls, where he excelled in opposition to Springbok Bakkies Botha, has swelled up further and will have to sit out the Force clash.

He is likely to be replaced by De Kock Steenkamp, who has done well for the Stormers as a replacement in recent weeks. Anton van Zyl is fit again and should slot in on the bench, though there is also Adriaan Fondse, a stalwart over the past few seasons after being lured to the Cape from the Bulls, in the mix.

The Stormers beat the Bulls without Burger and they know they can probably do without Elstadt for this one match, but their injury problems don’t end with those two. Tighthead prop Brok Harris’ wrist is still painful, and is considered doubtful for the match. Not that having Springbok CJ van der Linde as the replacement tighthead should be a problem to the Stormers.

After the surprisingly comprehensive win over the Bulls – no-one in Pretoria would have quibbled had the Stormers won by 20 as that was how much better they were than their opponents on the night – the Stormers team for the Force clash should pick itself barring in the areas where there are injuries.

However, it will be interesting to see what Coetzee comes up with on Wednesday afternoon (the team is being announced at 16:30) at the back. Juan de Jongh made an outstanding contribution when he came onto the field at Loftus and surely he is not a player who can be considered just an impact substitute.

While young Danie Poolman has not let the side down in the four matches he has played and clearly has a bright future, surely now is the time for Coetzee to move one of Jean de Villiers or Jaque Fourie to the wing.

De Villiers was a disaster when used there by the Boks last year but the Stormers coaches appear to know how to use him there for it was as a wing that he was the catalyst for an outstanding attacking display from Western Province in a crucial Currie Cup league match in Cape Town last October.

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