Blockbuster Leiua to mentor Stormers golden generation

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John Dobson says he hopes veteran Samoan midfielder Alapati Leiua can help DHL Stormers whiz kids Sacha Mngomezulu and Suleiman Hartzenberg realise their full potential.

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Leiua was this week unveiled as a surprise new signing by the Stormers, as the Cape side looks to bolster their midfield experience ahead of a season where they will take part in both the Vodacom United Championship and European Champions Cup.

The former Hurricanes, Wasps and Bristol Bears back celebrated his 34th birthday on Wednesday, but could be even more important after Ruhan Nel and Juan de Jongh suffered injuries in pre-season.

“We actually started conversations with Alapati before the injuries to Ruhan and Juan. It was purely because of his playing ability and the quality person he is,” Dobson explained.

“Not many of our players have Champions Cup experience and Alapati has played many. We wanted that experience.

“Cape Town wants to see people who can offload and there are not many around who are better than him. He fits our game model.

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“We are really excited about the young players who are making progress with us,” added Dobson. “Someone even referred to them as a possible new golden generation. Sacha at inside and Suleiman at outside centre count among them. It will be great for them to have Alapati as their teacher.”

Leiua was one of only a handful of high-profile players signed by the Stormers ahead of the new campaign, the others being fullback Clayton Blommetjies and Springbok hooker Joseph Dweba.

Dobson explained that with the amount of burgeoning young talent at the union, the Stormers have taken the approach of developing youth over signing big names for the sake of it.

“I thought depth would be a major issue for us and it still might be, but these youngsters are not going to get any more experience if they don’t play,” said Dobson.

“For example, we went into the market to look for locks. There were talks about us and Lood [de Jager] and there were other locks that we spoke to, but if I just think about the competition in our squad, Conor Evans and Gary Porter have been sensational in pre-season.

“There is also Salmaan Moerat, who we could have brought straight into the team this weekend.

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“What has really given us energy and enthusiasm is the depth that we have built in the pre-season,” added Dobson. “I don’t think it’s right to go into the market if we’ve got a really talented youngster and we want to develop him.

“There was a need to sign a centre, but we weren’t going to go out and get a loose forward when we already have Nama Xaba and Junior Pokomela.

“If we were going to bring somebody, that player had to be a difference maker or fall into our plan, which is the case with Alapati and Clayton. We have nine of the 15 Junior Springboks that started in the U20 Summer Series final against Wales and we want to bring them through as quickly as we can.”

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Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

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Dylan Jack