Rookie to start for Stormers against Bulls

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - OCTOBER 25: Johnny Kotze of Western Province U/21 during the Absa U/21 Final match between DHL Western Province and Blue Bulls at DHL Newlands on October 25, 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Petri Oeschger/Gallo Images)

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - OCTOBER 25: Johnny Kotze of Western Province U/21 during the Absa U/21 Final match between DHL Western Province and Blue Bulls at DHL Newlands on October 25, 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Petri Oeschger/Gallo Images)

Published Feb 12, 2015

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The Stormers are set to spring a surprise today by naming last year’s Western Province Under-21 centre Johnny Kotze at right wing for Saturday’s Super Rugby opener against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.

The Cape Times understands that while Kobus van Wyk, who is the first-choice No 14, has recovered from the calf injury he picked up against the Cheetahs two weeks ago, there are concerns about his readiness as he’s had only 28 minutes of gametime in the pre-season and has been unable to train fully with the team this week.

Backline coach Robbie Fleck said on Tuesday that Van Wyk was “still training with the medical staff, and we will make a call on him on Thursday”. But while the players had a rest day yesterday, it is believed that coach Allister Coetzee has decided not to risk Van Wyk and will throw Kotze into the Loftus cauldron when he names his team today.

It might be regarded as a left-field selection from Coetzee, especially as EW Viljoen and Huw Jones may have been seen as the next-in-line should Van Wyk not make it. Viljoen started the first warm-up game against SWD at right wing and replaced Van Wyk during the Cheetahs match too.

But in the same game, Kotze came on in place of Viljoen with just over 20 minutes left and had a couple of good runs with ball-in-hand, and it appears as if that was enough to convince the Stormers management that he was the right choice to handle the pressures of playing at Loftus.

Kotze is a hard-running outside centre who may lack the ball skills or agility of a Jean de Villiers or even Van Wyk, but is very direct and won’t shy away from contact on attack and defence. The 22-year-old Kotze – full name John-Ben – is a strongly-built unit at 1.85m and 89kg, and is set to face off against the speedy Francois Hougaard, who was picked at left wing by Bulls coach Frans Ludeke yesterday.

Another indication of the imminent selection was the fact that Kotze was not part of the Stormers match-day squad that had a WP Vodacom Cup look to it against Boland last week, whereas Viljoen started the game at fullback.

Jones is a quicker and silkier runner than Kotze, but lacks the abrasiveness of the latter. So he most likely will have to settle for a spot on the bench against the Bulls.

Kotze, along with Cheslin Kolbe and Dillyn Leyds in the back-three, can prepare themselves for a barrage of up-and-unders from Bulls flyhalf Handré Pollard. “All three are going to get it, and they have to get that into their minds! But I’m confident that they will handle it,” said Fleck.

“Dillyn has been impressive in pre-season. He came here a bit underdone physically and mentally in the Currie Cup, and had an injury too. But he’s taken that on board and has shown a lot of class in the pre-season games.

“We rate him as a footballer and he’s a natural 15. But he can also slot in at 10 and wing. We like to have our best footballer at 15, which is why Cheslin is there. But Dillyn can play that role too, covers a lot of ground and likes to get into first receiver, which makes him dangerous – so it’s an extra set of hands, and we can use him in terms of creative play.”

The Bulls have two tall players in Jurgen Visser and Bjorn Basson in their back-three, and will pursue high kicks with a vengeance. The Pretoria side also possess greater experience in their backline, but Fleck is not concerned about Kolbe and Leyds’s lack of size at Loftus.

“Physicality is obviously important, but a top skill-set and athletes who have speed and evasive skills are coming through more and more in the modern game. If you look at the trend in New Zealand, they have a lot of skilful guys, with one or two destructive runners,” he said.

“In my book, there is always a place for Cheslin Kolbe and Dillyn Leyds. Cheslin is one of the best in the country, if not in the world. Those guys play a massive role in terms of how we want to play – we want to play quick, fast-paced rugby and we want to beat the opposition with skills. It’s important that our pack brings it physically, and the guys in midfield as well.” - Cape Times

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