Cape Town - When the Stormers endured an almost unimaginable injury crisis during last year’s Super Rugby campaign, they called on youngster Sikhumbuzo Notshe on their overseas tour.
And even though he was just 20 at the time, Notshe wasn’t overawed and immediately caught the eye on debut. It wasn’t just the fact that he scored a try, but how energetic he was as a ball-carrier and how he was almost always up with the play, whether on attack and defence.
He carried that spirit into the Currie Cup, where he again put in some sparkling displays with the limited opportunities that he had received. But the 21-year-old wants more, much more - the Stormers’ No 8 jersey.
It would’ve been far easier for Notshe to join another franchise to get gametime considering the plethora of top loose forwards in the Cape, such as Duane Vermeulen, Nizaam Carr and Siya Kolisi - not to mention Michael Rhodes and Rynhardt Elstadt.
The former Wynberg Boys’ High star, though, doesn’t want to leave Cape Town just yet. “The competition is tough, and that’s what gets the best out of you. You’ve got to motivate yourself - there is no easy ride. I could be signing for another union, but I stuck around at WP because the competition is healthy,” Notshe said on Wednesday at the Cape Town Stadium ahead of Saturday’s clash against Boland at the 2010 World Cup venue (4pm kickoff, tickets range from R50-R80).
“If I had to run (away), that’s not accepting the fight - you’ve got to fight with the big dogs, as they are called. Some guys give up and say ‘No, it’s fine, a club overseas wants me’, and then they go. But I’m still willing to fight and play rugby, and play in Cape Town.
“And a guy who motivates me a lot is Nizaam Carr, who has knocked down one of the big guys up there. So, that’s my motivation. It can be done, but you’ve got to put your mind into it and grind hard.”
Notshe will start at No 8 against Boland in what is expected to be a Stormers side made up largely of WP Vodacom Cup players, although the team will only be announced on Thursday as the coaches are awaiting final injury assessments. But promising youngsters such as Robert du Preez (flyhalf), Godlen Masimla (scrumhalf), Mike Willemse and Neil Rautenbach (hooker), and even ex-England Sevens player Mat Turner (wing) are set to get gametime.
But there is a chance that Notshe will be involved in the main team for next week’s Super Rugby opener against the Bulls at Loftus, with doubts around the fitness of Carr (virus) and Kolisi (hamstring), while Rhodes may have to play at No 5 lock if Manuel Carizza (shoulder) and Ruan Botha (ankle) don’t recover in time from their injuries.
But coach Allister Coetzee did say this week that he wouldn’t have a problem picking Carr if he hasn’t had any gametime as the 23-year-old was a “natural athlete” who could slot in immediately. Carr trained without any problems this week, but will sit out the Boland match.
So, Saturday’s fixture provides Notshe with an ideal opportunity to impress Coetzee, although the Stormers team to face Boland will be handled on the day by Vodacom Cup mentors John Dobson and Dawie Snyman, as the players involved will form the nucleus of the WP team in that competition.
“I could be more sound on D (defence), I can make a huge difference there. But it’s something that I’ll work on, and if I get my opportunity again, I will make use of it,” said Notshe.
“I’m there to impress someone, but I’m there to live myself out on the field. If I’m worried about Nizaam (and whether he is going to be fit to play against the Bulls), I will never play my best game. I’ve played about 40 minutes of rugby this year, and I need to continue doing that and worry about what Notshe’s got to do, not what Nizaam’s got to do.”
But Boland caused an upset in the corresponding match last year when they outlasted the Stormers 29-24 in stifling heat in Wellington, and even though it was a team filled with several WP Vodacom Cup players, they would want to avoid a similar fate on Saturday.
“When I just got out of school and played Boland in my first Vodacom Cup game in 2013, I was bullied a bit! And losing last year, it still hurts. But the boys are well prepared. You can’t take anything for granted - otherwise you get a result like last year,” said Notshe.
“We are not going to change (the way we play), we are still going to carry on from the Currie Cup. We gave it some air, and the people of Cape Town were quite pleased with the way that we played rugby. We might tweak things, but we are still going to give it some air, have some fun and play rugby.”
Cape Times