CAPE TOWN - With due respect to the legendary Dan Carter, Stormers centre Dan Kriel has a great chance to be “Dan the Man” at Newlands on Saturday.
The Stormers will have a new man at the back of the scrum in Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Kriel takes over from the injured Damian de Allende against the Jaguares, as coach Robbie Fleck tries to build continuity in the team.
During the Stormers team announcement at Newlands, Fleck said that they were giving Notshe a go at No 8 in the place of Nizaam Carr, who limped off the field with a leg injury during the Stormers’ 37-24 victory over the Bulls last week.
De Allende has been ruled out for 12 weeks with an ankle injury, hence the change in midfield.
“Nemo (Carr) suffered a deep gash on the leg on Saturday. So he didn’t get to train fully both on Monday and Tuesday. He also had to miss the contact part of today’s session,” Fleck confirmed.
In terms of centre options, Huw Jones was also available for the round two match at Newlands, while Dan du Plessis picked up an ankle injury on Tuesday that kept his name off the matchday roster. And Fleck expects the promising midfielder to be back at training on Monday.
But the Stormers boss felt that Kriel was their best bet given their continuity goals. And the fact that Scotland international Jones has a meeting booked with Eddie Jones’ England side in a Six Nations decider next week also urged Fleck to go with their Bulls recruit.
“Huw Jones flew in on Monday. He trained with us on Tuesday and he was available for selection, but we decided that we wanted to build continuity with the team," Fleck said.
“Huw’s got a massive game against England, so it wouldn't be fair to him. He’s got his mind on that game as well. He didn’t train on Thursday because he’s got a bit of flu, so everything kind of worked out. So for the sake of the team and continuity as well, it was only right that Dan Kriel come in."
And while Jones’ electrifying pace could have spiced up the already-hot Stormers backline, World Sevens Player of the Year Seabelo Senatla has been included on the bench to provide speed in abundance.
According to Fleck, the Sevens man’s return to the 15-man game was a smooth one.
But the Jaguares also have an addition that will certainly boost their group in Nicolas Sanchez.
The Argentine international, who didn’t feature in their win over the Kings last weekend due to injury, will pull the strings at No 10 at Newlands.
And collectively, Fleck was wary of the threats Raul Perez’s men can pose.
“They’re a dangerous team, they’re a Test outfit. When they get their wide game going they certainly put most teams under pressure. It’s a good challenge for us. We’ll be tested out wide and in broken play, but that’s exciting,” Fleck said.
But the one area the Stormers will be looking to build on is their scrummaging.
Against the Bulls, the Stormers outperformed their old foes at the set-piece. And with the Jaguares being the strong scrummaging outfit that they are, Fleck and Co put a lot of work into this area this week.
And he was especially mindful of powerhouse hooker and skipper Agustin Creevy.
“Creevy is potentially one of the two best hookers in the world. He’s a set-piece hooker and he gets around the park as well. He presents a lot of challenges up front. But we’re excited," Fleck said.
“We actually don’t talk about bonus points. We talk about how we want to play and we focus on ourselves, but if the bonus point comes then it’s the cherry on the top. If the tries flow; great, if they don’t, then we need to figure out how we fight back from that.”
Teams for Newlands:
Stormers: 15 SP Marais, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Siya Kolisi (captain), 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth (vice-captain), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Seabelo Senatla.
Jaguares: 15 Joaquí* Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Tomás Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Felipe Arregui, 2 Agustí* Creevy, 1 Santiago García Botta
Replacements: 16 Juliá* Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera Paz, 18 Cristian Bartoloni, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Benjamí* Macome, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Matías Moroni
Kick-off: 5:15 pm
Referee: Jaco Peyper