The DHL Stormers will probably be missing as many as six Springboks when they head into their top of the log Vodacom URC clash with Munster at Thormond Park on Saturday night but they are confident they have done sufficient preparation and have enough depth to compete well.
As it stands the Stormers are top of the log with Munster second even though they have the same number of log points (23) after five games. However, after winning all their games played so far with something to spare, the Cape side is significantly ahead on points differential which accounts for their top position.
That will go on the line at a venue where the Stormers haven’t won before but where they started impressively by building a good lead in the first half of their first ever URC game in 2021 before losing grip of the game in the second half.
With Munster having beaten the Stormers in the 2023 final as well as in a crucial league game that same season, the Stormers do have more than just the log points on their mind, although they did break their duck against Munster with a Damian Willemse inspired home win at DHL Stadium last October.
After winning all their games on their overseas tour just before the international break the Stormers do head to Limerick with bolstered confidence, but Willemse is one of the players who should be missing because of the Bok game against Wales falling outside of the international window. So should Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Nthuthuko Mchunu, Ben-Jason Dixon and Zachary Porthen.
“We haven’t heard anything from the Bok camp yet over whether any of our international players will be available,” said assistant coach Dawie Snyman ahead of Tuesday night’s departure for a tour that also includes the Stormers’ opening Investec Champions Cup game against Bayonne in France the following weekend.
The Boks will most likely return for that clash, although there’s also the not so small matter of the logistics of playing against La Rochelle the week after the Bayonne trip to take into account. As Snyman admitted, returning to South Africa’s heat from the cold of the northern hemisphere at this time of the year can be challenging.
“We are only flying out on Tuesday night as we feel it is helpful to us to train in the heat if we can, it gives you an advantage when you play in the cold,” said the attack coach.
So presumably then it could work the other way when the Stormers return for the La Rochelle game in Gqeberha a week after they play Bayonne, and hence there should be a question mark over whether the Boks who have been on tour for five weeks in the north should be heading to France as it could compromise their performance when they get back home.
“We will take the Boks’ availability for the Bayonne game on an individual basis, as we will if anyone is released for the Munster game,” Snyman said.
Mchunu, who was recruited from the Hollywoodbets Sharks in the offseason but has yet to play his first Stormers game because of a long term injury, for instance only joined the Bok tour in the last two weeks and hasn’t played since last season.
So it would make sense for him to go to France and maybe Dixon, who only got to play part of the Italy game as he had to be sacrificed early on due to the red card shown to Franco Mostert, and Porthen too.
Willemse, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Reinach are big players to miss as they are all backline starters for the Boks but Snyman is confident that the weeks of preparation together and the depth the Stormers have built up will hold them in good stead in both Limerick and Bayonne.
“We knew the Boks would be unavailable for this game and we had the opportunity during the break to have three quality weeks of training here,” he said.
“We have built up some good depth and we had players going hammer and tongs at each other and it was nice to see some players slotting into new combinations. I think everyone has a good understanding of what we want to do and it has been a good few weeks of preparation.”
Oli Kebble, back at the Stormers after a few years away playing for Scotland and Ireland, looks likely to be in the mix for Thormond Park as Snyman mentioned him, and centre Jonathan Roche is also touring after recovering from injury. Suleiman Hartzenberg, the talented wing and centre, is expected to be available for the La Rochelle game in mid-December.