Jean de Villiers blow to Stormers – Super Rugby update
Jean de Villiers, the South African centre will not be playing for the second consecutive week. He will be missing out on the upcoming fixtures against Lions in a very important Super Rugby affair at weekend in Johannesburg.
Stormers have not one issue at hand, as Bryan Habana is also suffering from lack of fitness due to a stiff shoulder and the team management is on its toes to find solutions.
During the Stormers’ defeat against the Reds by 19-6, it was Juan de Jongh who filled in for De Villiers last Saturday at Newlands. He will be doing that again for his side against the upcoming crucial match against Lions.
Allister Coetzee, the coach for the club admits to the fact that it is not confirmed who will be filling in for Habana, if he is not available for this weekend’s clash. Other than this he can also call upon JJ Engelbrecht from his Vodacom Cup side to replace
Habana. The advised solution by critics is to move Gio Aplon from fullback to play for Habana. In this case, there will be space for Lionel Cronje or Conrad at the fullback.
After the previous defeat, it was very much expected that Coetzee will be making a few major changes at the back and probably give rest to a few players. The squad so far remains unchanged other than the forced replacements due to injuries. Coetzee has kept
it cool with the senior players and has given a justification for doing so.
He said, “f we had changed the team last weekend and had the same result then everyone would have said 'Why did you change a winning team?' Yes, there are players who have had seven weeks of rugby now, but I believe that the more you play the better you
become.”
Giving supportive argument to his statement he added, “It's not by playing that you really become fatigued. It's about the lead-up to the game. In my view, the longer you can keep the combinations together the better.”
Even after losing to the Reds, the Stormers have not the top spot at the Super Rugby South African conference. Stormers won’t be going in as under dogs, but at the same time they will not under estimate the Lions. Lions have had a bad season so far and could
only win single match. But keeping their previous games’ tight performances, Stormers should remain cautious.
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