Assistant coach Norman Laker and veteran prop Brok Harris believe the DHL Stormers’ inside knowledge of Franco Smith will help them beat the heavily SA-influenced Glasgow Warriors in Scotland on Sunday.
The Stormers will battle some familiar faces when they face Glasgow at Scotstoun Stadium in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship this week. The Scottish outfit has no fewer than seven players with South African ties.
Skippered by SA-born Scotland international Kyle Steyn, the squad includes former Stormers centre Huw Jones and prop Oli Kebble, along with hooker Alan Dell, loosehead Nathan Macbeth, and locks JP du Preez and Sintu Manjezi.
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The Warriors, who lost 32-7 in the last meeting with the Stormers in 2021-22, seem to have turned a corner under former Cheetahs head coach and Springbok assistant Smith, and speaking in a Stormers conference from Glasgow on Wednesday, Laker told reporters: “Franco is a very good coach, he coached South Africa with Allister [Coetzee].
“He will have one or two things up his sleeve, he always has a trick up his sleeve.
“Then there are players with SA connections who’ve played for us like Huw Jones and Oli Kebble. There will be some familiar faces and we’re looking forward to see them.
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“Franco had a phenomenal attacking game during his time at the Cheetahs, a ball-in-hand approach. But some of our guys – Clayton Blommetjies, Joseph Dweba and Junior Pokomela – all played under him, so we can tap into that knowledge a bit, especially on how he liked to play against the Stormers or WP.
He added: “It’s going to be a nice challenge, and we pride ourselves on our defence and creating the opportunities for the players that we have.
“So again, I think it’s going to be a very good match, provided the weather plays along!”
Kebble, who came through the WP age-group ranks, was part of the front-row depth chart at the Stormers along with the Bok trio of Steven Kitshoff, Scarra Ntubeni and Frans Malherbe. The 11-cap Scotland loosehead prop was also a cog in the SA U20 team that won the 2012 Junior World Championship.
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On a potential battle upfront against Kebble – affectionately known as ‘The White Rhino’ in Glasgow – on Sunday, Harris added: “There’s obviously going to be some [niggle], if there isn’t any edge then it isn’t rugby!
“But besides Oli, I personally think they have a very good scrum … it’s going to be about us gaining the edge on them.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
