Cape Town - Stormers coach Robbie Fleck expects the Super Rugby warm-up game against the Jaguars from Argentina to give him a good idea of his team’s readiness ahead of the start of Super Rugby.
Fleck announced on Tuesday afternoon at a press conference in Bellville that the Stormers will face the powerful new Argentine side on February 13 at Newlands, which is two weeks before they start their Super Rugby campaign against the Bulls at Newlands on February 27.
That will be Fleck’s only dry run for his first-choice team before the Bulls game as Schalk Burger and Eben Etzebeth will return from Japan, while Juan de Jongh, Cheslin Kolbe and Cornal Hendricks will come back from Springbok Sevens duty.
This group of players will miss the opening warm-up against South Western Districts in George on January 30. Burger and Etzebeth will only be back in South Africa in early February, while the Blitzboks are involved in the World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments in Wellington, New Zealand on January 30-31 and in Sydney a week later.
“The Jaguars will be a serious threat in Super Rugby,” Fleck said. “In the beginning, people would’ve thought they’re the dark horses in the competition, but speaking in the rugby circles, they’re certainly one of the front-runners. That’s the one rugby-playing nation that’s improved the most over the last couple of months.
“They have a lot of Argentina Test players in their side, and many of their players used to feature for the Pampas XV (that played in the Vodacom Cup in the past). So they have played in South African conditions before. I wouldn’t say they are afraid of us anymore. They certainly will challenge come quarter-finals and semi-finals.
“We’re not playing them at home - we’re playing them Buenos Aires. We are only playing them in that warm-up game at home, so they will be a serious challenge for us.”
The Stormers completed a training camp in Wilderness last week, and Fleck said it was a good time to identify their vision and strategy for the season. “It’s a new team, new management, a youngish team we’ve got here. It allows us to change things a little bit, and try something new, and starting with our culture,” he said.
“We are still looking for the ‘Why’, and we are nearly there in terms of what we want to do and how we want to do it. But it’s that ‘why’ - that purpose that we are looking for. Post our camp now, we understand where we want to go.
“I like it to be pretty simple, the culture here. Simple and authentic. We are going to work incredibly hard, and coach and play without fear, and change mindsets. We are going to challenge the status quo, whether that’s here at Western Province or South African rugby.
“We’ve got a lot of inspiration within this group and there’s a lot of ambition. Our culture is going to be built on the successes of the past, we are going to be pretty humble and hard-working, but we certainly are going to be fearless in our approach.”
Fleck told Independent Media that he will only be making a final decision on the captaincy in February, once all his top players are back in the Stormers camp, although he had “a good idea” about who will take charge. Burger is sure to be a strong candidate, along with De Jongh, while outside bets may include Springbok tighthead prop Frans Malherbe and No 8 Nizaam Carr.
Stormers training camp squad
Nizaam Carr, Kurt Coleman, Damian de Allende, Jan de Klerk, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Robert du Preez, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Ryno Eksteen, Rynhardt Elstadt, Nic Groom, JC Janse van Rensberg, Huw Jones, Oli Kebble, Jean Kleyn, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi, Johnny Kotze, Dillyn Leyds, Frans Malherbe, Godlen Masimla, Bongi Mbonambi, Khanyo Ngcukana, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Scarra Ntubeni, Justin Phillips, Louis Schreuder, JD Schickerling, Chad Solomon, JP Smith, Jaco Taute, Brandon Thompson, Jurie van Vuuren, Kobus van Wyk, Alistair Vermaak, Jano Vermaak, Jacques Vermeulen, Michael Willemse, Leolin Zas.
@IndyCapeSport