John Dobson says the Stormers have not yet decided whether they will take a full-strength squad to play Scarlets in the final fixture of the season in Wales next month, as their playoff hopes still hinge on beating Leinster on Saturday. DYLAN JACK reports.
The Stormers will host eight-time champions Leinster in a top-of-the-table clash on Saturday evening, having gone on a six-game unbeaten run – seven at home – to ascend to second place.
Should the Stormers beat Leinster, that would all but seal their place in the playoffs and give the Cape side a good chance of hosting a quarter-final by finishing in the top four of the URC.
The win would also give the Stormers an opportunity to rest some tired legs in the game against Scarlets, before the playoffs get under way in June.
However, Dobson said that even if the Stormers do win against Leinster, they may still look to take as strong a squad as possible to Wales, to ensure they kick on and finish second or third on the table.
“Look, it depends on what happens on Saturday. Firstly, we set out in this competition trying to make the top eight and the playoffs. Mathematically, we are not there yet. Scarlets can still knock us out, theoretically.
“We have reset our goals slightly. We may be victims of our own success in that, even if we win on Saturday and qualify for the top eight and Europe, maybe we want to take some pride in finishing in the top three or four. Then that game against Scarlets becomes important.
“We will just have to make a call next week. If there was a possibility of a home semi-final or home quarter-final, then we have to go for that, for the people of Cape Town and for what this group has put into this season. I always had in my mind, that if we made the playoffs then we would give some of the guys a chance at Scarlets, but I don’t think that is going to be the case.”
When they take the field on Saturday, the Stormers will do so without Scarra Ntubeni, as the Springbok has been ruled out for an extended period of time due to an achilles tendon injury.
Following the game against Leinster, the Stormers finish the round-robin campaign with an away fixture against Scarlets in Llanelli on 21 May.
Dobson said during a media conference on Wednesday that the gap in fixtures should allow enough time for the likes of Andre-Hugo Venter and Chad Solomon to recover and give him more options to choose from at hooker.
“It looks like both are tracking well for Scarlets, one of them certainly. It looks like Andre-Hugo is well ahead [of schedule] and Chad should be fit for Scarlets. Whether we push them and take three players in that position, I don’t think so.
“It’s good, we need that. I have a funny feeling that Wilmar is going to pleasantly surprise us this week as well. We could have a headache there, a much-better headache than what we had around 96 hours ago.”
The Stormers did some emergency recruiting in the week, bringing in former Maties player Wilmar Arnoldi on a short-term loan from the Cheetahs.
The 27-year-old, who played in the PRO14 for the Cheetahs, will make his Stormers debut off the bench on Saturday.
“I think Wilmar is the sort of hooker that we need. He throws very well. What we need is a hooker like Scarra, a really good set-piece hooker who works hard. With respect, we have enough X factor in the team, so we don’t need a Schalk Brits. We needed somebody to help us with the set piece. That is something we take pride in.
“He has fitted in well. He seems like a nice guy. He played for Maties for a long time.”
Photo: Luca Sighinolfi/INPHO/Shutterstock
