By Jacques van der Westhuyzen
Willem de Waal's stronger kicking game has won him the Stormers No 10 shirt ahead of Peter Grant for this weekend's Vodacom Super 14 match against the Lions at Newlands.
And with the veteran flyhalf's selection comes the likelihood of the Lions being peppered with up-and-unders and having to deal with balls being hoofed on to the back three and into the corners.
It is a tactic which worked well for the Stormers against the Bulls last weekend and is something Lions fullback Louis Ludik has no problem dealing with. In fact, Ludik would love nothing more than for De Waal to test him under the high ball.
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"I've had a decent season so far and am playing with a lot of confidence at the moment," said Ludik on Wednesday.
"The more a flyhalf kicks on to me, the better. Balls coming in my direction means I can get more involved in the game. It gives me a chance to play, to counter-attack, so if I'm targeted, then it's a good thing."
Ludik says he's not surprised that Rassie Erasmus has retained De Waal ahead of Grant. "They played a kicking game against the Bulls and it worked fairly well, so I'm sure they'll be looking to play the same tactics against us. They need to win as badly as we do.
"But, we all know Rassie and what he can get up to with his team selections, so maybe this time De Waal will spread the ball a lot more. We'll just have to wait and see."
Besides the retention of De Waal at flyhalf, Erasmus has recalled flank Schalk Burger to the run-on side, while Adriaan Fondse takes over from AJ Venter in the second row. At the back, Tonderai Chavangha is dropped to the bench, with Nick Koster taking his position on the right wing and Sireli Naqelevuki coming back into the side.
In other team news, Percy Montgomery remains the Stormers fullback as Conrad Jantjes has yet to recover from an injury, while prop JD Moller is again fit and takes a spot on the bench.
Meanwhile, Cheetahs boss Naka Drotske has rung the changes in his side following four consecutive defeats. The Cheetahs face the Blues tomorrow morning (SA time).
In all, Drotske has made six changes to the team that lost to the Hurricanes a week ago, the most interesting that of switching the roles of Meyer Bosman and Jacques-Louis Potgieter.
Stormers: Percy Montgomery; Nick Koster, Gcobani Bobo, Jean de Villiers (capt), Sireli Naqelevuki; Willem de Waal, Ricky Januarie; Luke Watson, Duane Vermeulen, Schalk Burger; Andries Bekker, Adriaan Fondse, Brian Mujati, Schalk Brits, Wicus Blaauw. Replacements: Deon Fourie, JD Moller, AJ Venter, Francois Louw, Dewaldt Duvenage, Tonderai Chavhanga, Peter Grant
Cheetahs: Hennie Daniller; Danwel Demas, Corné Uys, Meyer Bosman, Jongi Nokwe; Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Tewis de Bruyn; Hendro Scholtz (capt), Wayne van Heerden, Heinrich Brüssow; David de Villiers, Nico Breedt, Bees Roux, Adriaan Strauss, Wian du Preez. Replacements: Richardt Strauss, Kobus Calldo, Francois Uys, Kabamba Floors, Sarel Pretorius, Piet van Zyl, Fabian Juries.
- This article was originally published on page 22 of The Star on March 12, 2009
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