Stormers XXIII winger Joel Leotlela, who scored against the Bulls, will be key on the attack as the Cape side look to topple the Lions in their final Currie Cup round-robin match on Friday.
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The Stormers XXIII had some strong training sessions against their United Rugby Championship (URC) team ahead of a season-defining Currie Cup encounter with the Lions.
According to head coach Tom Dawson-Squibb, it’s probably the best preparation they could have received this week as they bid for a place in the semi-finals of the domestic tournament.
Currently in fighth, a victory at Ellis Park (5.05pm kick-off) will elevate the Cape side into third in the standings, and then they will need a few results over the next three games to go their way to make it to the knockouts. However, they are not planning on leaving things to chance and want to give themselves the best opportunity of making it through.
So, their goal is to improve on their games from the last couple of weekends as they push for a top-four spot.
“The Lions are clear favourites for this game,” Dawson-Squibb said at his team announcement press conference.
“They have played in the final in the last two years, are playing at home and have fewer injuries than us, and said they want to make it further this year. We are a speedbump for them. We have huge respect for what them, their identity, what they’ve built, but we can’t focus too much on them.”
While two injured players in fullback Dylan Miller and lock Gary Porter return, the Stormers will still rock up to Johannesburg missing several key players. However, Dawson-Squibb has put his faith in the rookies to bring home the win.
He could’ve easily knocked on the door of Stormers director of rugby John Dobson for a few reinforcements in key positions, but they decided to back the players they’ve been using throughout the campaign.
“Looking at the injuries we’ve had, I would be lying to you if I said it would not be nice to boost our group with a few URC guys. But that is not an option for us, so we did not really give it a thought.
“I am super happy with the players and what they’ve invested in the campaign. Obviously, as a fan of the Stormers, people would’ve loved to see a Yaqeen Ahmed (flyhalf), Johnny Roche (centre) or Hacjivah Dayimani playing tomorrow (Friday). However, in the longer scheme of things, that is not going to happen.”
Stormers XXIII
15 Dylan Miller, 14 Joel Leotlela, 13 Markus Muller, 12 Luke Burger, 11 Mfundo Ndhlovu, 10 Kyle Smith, 9 Ezekiel Ngobeni (captain), 8 Eric Basson, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Xola Nyali, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Tom Barnard, 3 Herman Lubbe, 2 Vernon Paulo, 1 Mhleli Khuzwayo.
Replacements: 16 Altus Rabe, 17 Hencus van Wyk, 18 Danie Kruger, 19 Luan Botha, 20 Gert Kemp, 21 Tiaan Fourie, 22 Dominic Malgas, 23 Kian Davis.
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