Cape Town — While there has seldom been a lack of top-quality players of colour available in the Western Cape, many of them did not receive the opportunity to represent the Stormers.
Some of them have had to seek their fortunes elsewhere, while others have had to give up on their rugby dream to find a “regular” job in a volatile South African economy.
But things have improved significantly on the transformation front at Western Province over the last decade, and the reward was the United Rugby Championship title last season, which featured a number of black stars such as Warrick Gelant, Seabelo Senatla, Damian Willemse, Leolin Zas, Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies, Hacjivah Dayimani, Marvin Orie, Salmaan Moerat and many others.
In last season’s final, the Stormers had nine players of colour in the starting line-up, compared to the Bulls’ four.
And on the cusp of Saturday’s URC showdown with the Dragons at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (2pm kickoff), coach John Dobson has revealed that there will be 11 players of colour in the starting XV, which will be announced on Friday morning.
“My memories of Gqeberha go back to the days of the Boet Erasmus, but so much has changed in the rugby landscape, and so much of it is for the better. It is a privilege for us, as the Stormers, to take a home match to Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, and what excites me as much as the prospect of the match is the make-up of our squad,” the head coach wrote on Thursday in his “Dobbo’s Diary” weekly column on the Stormers’ website.
“We’ve been blessed to be able to showcase the cultural representation of rugby in the Western Cape through our selections every week, and it has never been a case for me as a coach to look at a team sheet and count how many players of colour have been selected.
“Since I have been coach of the Stormers and in my days of coaching Western Province, it was a simple equation: the best 23 plays in relation to the occasion, and there is a selection science, based on game strategy, individual skills and combinations, as to which 15 start from the 23 and which 15 finish.
“It will also be history-making for the Stormers in a way that I was not aware of until told, which is that 11 of the starting XV are players of colour.
“The strength of Western Province and the Stormers is our cultural diversity, but when I heard the number, it really made me appreciate how much progress we have made, and how we have transformed just by way of understanding how we wanted to play, and then identified the players we believe most effectively suit this game plan.”
Dobson pointed out how he has had to juggle the player resources this year due to Springbok call-ups and injuries, but that the Stormers had still lost just once, with five wins and a draw.
“For us to have dropped just the one match in seven is among our proudest achievements as a squad because it speaks volumes to the qualities of the players within our system, which brings me to the match-day squad for Saturday,” Dobson said.
“It is another of those old and young, experienced and inexperienced groupings, in which we have shown the Dragons the greatest respect, but also been true to our philosophy that if a player is in our extended squad, he is good enough to play in the competition.
“Some regulars return, and some hugely talented youngsters will get a taste of the league and experience the passion of the Welsh lads.
“We know we are in for a heck of a game, but our optimism is such that we believe in ourselves to play great rugby and get a positive result.”
IOL Sport