Three Boks return as winning Stormers face old mate

Three of the six DHL Stormers Springboks who did duty on the just completed five match winning tour of Europe have joined up with the squad in Biarritz, where they are preparing for Friday night’s opening Investec Champions Cup clash with Bayonne.

With the workload of the players on the Bok tour a key factor in determining which of the national players would stay on to play against the French club, it should not be difficult to predict which of the Stormers’ Boks have stayed on to play this game for the Cape franchise.

Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cobus Reinach all had busy Novembers, so they have flown home to Cape Town to freshen up ahead of next week’s trip to Gqeberha to face La Rochelle.

The players who have joined up with the squad are all forwards, which given how strong the Stormers pack was against Munster in their sixth round Vodacom URC game at the weekend should be an ominous warning to Bayonne.

Ben-Jason Dixon, who was selected for just two of the games, one of which he was a reserve and in the other, where he started against Italy in Turin, he had to leave the field after 20 minutes because of the red card shown to lock Franco Mostert. Zachary Porthen, who was part of the match 23 for three games on tour has accompanied Dixon to France, as has Ntuthuko Mchunu.

Former Sharks player Mchunu has yet to play for the Stormers but he’s made an impression in training since returning from injury. He watched the Boks beat Wales last week from the stands so will be eager to get into action with his last competitive game having been for the Sharks back in June.

If Mchunu is to make his debut against the French team, who have been unbeaten at home ever since their round of 16 Challenge Cup loss to the Vodacom Bulls back in April, it will be interesting to see who coach John Dobson leaves out. Vernon Matongo has been outstanding since making his first start in the senior team against Connacht in May, while Oli Kebble, playing his first game for the Stormers when he came on as part of the replacement squad against Munster, delivered his own statement performance as a loosehead.

Also in the loosehead queue at the Stormers is veteran Ali Vermaak, an underrated player who is feared as a scrummager.

“We took the issue of which Boks would play for us in this game on a case by case basis, meaning we looked at the individual workload on the Bok tour,” explained defence coach Norman Laker.

“Someone like Sacha played most of the games on tour, and there were also big work loads for Damian and Cobus. They were on tour for five weeks so it made sense to send them home to get some rest so they can be ready for the tough part of the season that lies ahead for us. I cannot say which of the players who have joined us will start on Saturday, but they have joined us and are all in the selection mix.”

The Stormers will be looking forward to playing against and meeting up with an old mate in the form of scrumhalf Herschelle Jantjies, who joined Bayonne this year after seven seasons with the Stormers which propelled him into the Bok set-up in his first full season (2019). He was on the bench when the Boks won the World Cup in Japan later that year.

“I brought Herschelle a plate of food as his wife isn’t here yet so that’s our way of dealing with his threat on Friday,” laughed Laker.

“No, seriously, after playing with him all the players know what a threat Herschelle can be. We have seen he has played a role in some of the most recent Bayonne victories, including their Top 14 win over Lyon at the weekend. We know he is a player we will have to watch carefully.”

The Stormers team for the Bayonne match will be announced on Thursday.