The Stormers have suffered a significant blow in the front row after loosehead prop Oli Kebble was ruled out of Saturday’s Super Rugby clash against the Force in Perth.
Kebble sustained a knee injury in last week’s record-breaking 57-31 victory over the Rebels in Melbourne, and his absence is a big loss for the Stormers. The 23-year-old was part of the front row alongside Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch that totally destroyed the Rebels scrum last week, as they won a few penalties and tightheads.
Their dominance provided the front-foot ball for the loose forwards and backline to flourish, and Kebble was a powerful presence in that regard too with his ball-carrying ability.
But Stormers coach Robbie Fleck will hope that Kebble’s replacement, Alistair Vermaak, will find the form that proved he is a steadying influence in the set-piece. Vermaak isn’t the flashiest player around and is not a destructive ball-carrier, but is a technically solid scrummager who will look to put the average Force pack under pressure.
The other injury-enforced change for the Stormers on Thursday sees Sikhumbuzo Notshe replace Nizaam Carr (shoulder) at openside flank. Fleck has opted for a five-three split on the bench, with Rynhardt Elstadt – who will win his 50th cap – acting as the loose-forward cover.
Newly-capped Scottish international Huw Jones is among the backline replacements and can play at centre, wing and fullback, while Wilco Louw is the back-up tighthead prop as JP Smith will be the loosehead cover.
“Rynhardt is a great team man, and the fact that he is earning his 50th cap on Saturday despite the injury setbacks he has had shows the sort of determined player he is,” Fleck said.
Meanwhile, there is drama in the Force camp after prop Pek Cowan was stripped of the captaincy on Thursday for breaking the team curfew, while there was also an alleged drunken incident on tour in Bloemfontein last week.
The Force said on their website that wing Luke Morahan will take over as skipper against the Stormers “after Pek Cowan and Dane Haylett-Petty were deemed to have breached the club’s leadership standards while on tour in South Africa”.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Australia reported on Thursday that Cowan was among a group of players who arrived back at the team hotel in Bloemfontein last week after a 1am curfew.
Heylett-Petty and his brother Ross had apparently been involved in a “play-fight” that went further and a vase in the hotel foyer was broken as a result, while lock Adam Coleman and prop Francois van Wyk had a “loud argument” and another player urinated on the hotel passage after being allegedly locked out of his room and too drunk to control himself.
However, interim coach Dave Wessels included all the players in his match-23 to face the Stormers.
Saturday’s game kicks off at 1.55pm.
Teams For Perth
Stormers: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Daniel du Plessis, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Schalk Burger (captain), 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Bench: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 18 JP Smith, 17 Wilco Louw, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Scott van Breda.
Force:15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Marcel Brache, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Luke Morahan, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Ryan Louwrens, 8 Angus Cottrell, 7 Chris Alcock, 6 Richard Hardwick, 5 Rory Walton, 4 Ross Haylett-Petty, 3 Guy Millar, 2 Harry Scoble, 1 Pek Cowan.
Bench: 16 Anaru Rangi, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Peter Grant, 23 Semisi Masirewa.
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