‘The age is coming down, despite Brannas’

Director of rugby John Dobson hailed the young Stormers who made real strides in Project 2029 against the All Blacks, while giving a nod to veteran Deon Fourie’s display, reports DEVIN HERMANUS. rocore.sbs

New Zealand on Friday beat the Stormers 38-21 in the historic Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry meeting between the teams at Cape Town Stadium.

The hosts were hit by a string of injuries throughout the match, with prop Sazi Sandi a late withdrawal, scrumhalf Imad Khan forced off early with a knee injury and Dewaldt Duvenage (broken arm) also departing late on. Captain Ruhan Nel didn’t return for the second half after picking up a calf issue.

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Despite the setbacks, Dobson was encouraged by what the likes of 20-year-old debutant Yaqeen Ahmed, loose forward Wandile Mlaba (21) and props Herman Lubbe (21) and Vernon Matongo (24) showed against the Kiwis, as part of the Stormers’ four-year vision to build an elite global rugby powerhouse.

“We’re making real progress. Obviously, Immy was terrible,” Dobson said. “It was going to be such a cool story game with Immy. With respect to Dewies, he’s not Carl Lewis. It would be such a nice game for Immy, that was an important part.

“But the project in terms of Immy, Yaqeen. Wandi Malaba – that’s a guy who’s absolutely confirmed is going to be a fantastic Stormer. It feels really progressive.

“Vern Matongo, even Herman Lubbe coming on at the end. I feel like we’re growing.

NEL: Stormers got schooled

“To be fair, and I’m not saying we’re doing a brilliant job, but two or three years ago, there were 10 guys who would’ve played across this weekend who are not available for injury – maybe eight in Argentina with the Springboks,” he added.

“Let’s be conservative, minus 15, and you go and produce this, I think the project is taking shape. And the age is coming down, despite Dewies and Brannas.”

Fourie, who scored a try in his first competitive game back from knee surgery, played over half the match – against the same opponents the 39-year-old Springbok faced in the last of his 13 Tests at the 2023 World Cup final – while carrying a shoulder injury.

“That is an incredible performance, isn’t it? For a guy again coming back from a serious injury … He made three tackles in 15 seconds, and two of them were try-saving. He’s remarkable,” Dobson said.

ICYMI: ‘Remarkable’ duel comes at a cost for Stormers

Photo: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images

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Patrick Tuipulotu is relishing the prospect of facing the legendary Ma’a Nonu, while All Blacks boss Dave Rennie confirms wholesale changes for Tuesday’s clash against the Sharks.

New Zealand beat the Stormers 38-21 in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry opener at Cape Town Stadium on Friday, and now travel to Durban to battle the Sharks in the second tie of their eight-match tour.

A 103-Test All Black and two-time World Cup winner, the 44-year-old Nonu is set to battle his countrymen off the Sharks bench at Kings Park next week, after recently linking up with the club.

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“I didn’t expect him to be named, but I’m looking forward to it,” All Blacks skipper Tuipulotu said. “A lot of the boys are close to him, so it’s no secret how long he’s played.

“His career’s been this long because he’s a true professional, and he’s blessed to keep playing. It’ll be quite a spectacle to see him come up against us, and we’ll certainly look forward to that.

“Might catch up with him midweek and give him a jab or two…”

Rennie confirmed a heavily rotated match 23 will take on JP Pietersen’s Sharks, with the short turnaround forcing his hand.

ICYMI: Nonu to tackle All Blacks

“There’ll be a handful of guys tonight who will back up, but there’ll be an enormous amount of changes,” the Kiwi added. “Likewise when we play the Bulls four days later.

“We wanted to be flawless tonight, and we know we can be better. We’ve only got to wait four days to get another crack at it.”

He, too, was pleased with Rieko Ioane’s impact at Cape Town Stadium after the All Blacks outside back’s recall.

“He finished off a good try, and was a handful with the ball in hand. Started on the wing, ended up playing a fair chunk of the game as centre; versatility like his on this tour will be important for us.”

RECAP: All Blacks battle past Stormers

Asked whether enough players had staked a claim to suggest his squad boasted similar depth to Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks, Rennie pointed to the early stages of his own project.

“Rassie’s been doing that for eight years – we’re a couple of months into it,” he said. “We’ve brought over a good squad, and not a lot of the guys who played tonight had big minutes in the Nations Championship. We’ve got some tough footy into them tonight.

“Tours like this are great for us to test and build depth.”

Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images

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The Springboks believe Argentina comprise a balanced squad, mixing experience with the eagerness of youth, and being strong in just about all departments.

Bok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick and captain Siya Kolisi said so on the eve of their one-off Test in Buenos Aires on Saturday night (kick-off 9.10pm).

South Africa field five players returning from injury, including Test centurions Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth, while eight players have fewer than 10 caps, and 11 have 14 caps or fewer.

‘Evolved their game’

Argentina feature even less experience, naming four debutants. This is because the likes of Joaquin Oviedo, Julian Montoya, Gonzalo Garcia, Justo Piccardo and Bautista Delguy are unavailable due to club commitments.

These factors, along with South Africa’s recent 11-1 record against Argentina, have led some to describe the Argentina Test as a ‘warm-up’ to the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks, for which the Springboks left a contingent in South Africa to train for.

Stick, however, said the Springboks prepare with the same intensity for all the teams they face.

Kolisi said he was preparing for a tough clash against old foes Pablo Matera and Tomás Lavanini.

“Argentina have evolved their game with coach Felipe Conteponi,” Kolisi said.

“Their kicking game is very strong. They play in the right areas, and they’re more disciplined than before. They were close to winning they games against Scotland and England.

“There’s also a couple of guys who come from a Sevens background. They’ve got a couple of players who can also turn something out of nothing. So anything is possible.

Their set piece is also good. Argentina is known for their scrum. They can play from broken play. So we’re going to have to be very disciplined and stick to the plan that we have for this coming game.”

Springboks prepare for ‘very dangerous’ Argentina

Stick said the Springboks regularly rotate their squad, and opposition do not underestimate them. So Argentina also should be respected.

The Springbok coach said Francisco Moreno, Leonel Oviedo, Juan Penoucos and Juan Martín Scelzo all deserved their opportunity.

“It’s good to see also they’re showing some trust in some of the youngsters that are getting opportunities. And once again, they’ve got a balanced squad in a sense of they still got experienced players like Santiago Carreras at [flyhalf].

“Then they’ve got guys also like Rodrigo Isgró, who we know he’s very dangerous with his sevens background.

“And with the leader like Matera, I know he’s gonna press the right buttons to make sure that those boys will be ready for the game… They are a very, very dangerous side.”

Libbie Janse van Rensburg marked her first Test as captain in style as the Springbok Women crushed the Fijiana XV in Suva on Saturday.

The flyhalf reached two milestones in the 55-12 win, taking her Test points tally to 221 while becoming the 12th player to captain the Bok Women since they played their first Test in 2004.

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Janse van Rensburg praised the team’s dominant set-piece after South Africa laid the foundation for a comprehensive victory through their scrums, lineouts and mauls.

“We are a happy change room right now. We wanted to start strong in this first Test match and achieved that,” she said.

“We really did well in our first phase play and it worked well – our scrums, lineouts and mauls functioned very well and laid the foundation for the win.”

The Bok Women also successfully integrated several players returning from the SVNS circuit, with Shiniqwa Lamprecht making her Test debut as South Africa’s 194th capped player.

Despite the emphatic scoreline, Janse van Rensburg believes there is room for improvement before the teams meet again in Lautoka next Saturday.

“Our breakdowns did not always yield the fast ball we wanted, but that came right in the second half and it showed in the final score,” she said.

“We focused a lot on the breakdown leading up to this match and that will continue, we are not as smooth yet as we want to be.

“I also think we can be more direct in the backs as well, we took it out wide today, but still have the option of more direct play, which will also suit our style.”

PLUS: Boks brace for ‘emotional’ Argentina

The Bok Women will travel to Nandi on Sunday, where they will be based during the week as they prepare for the second Test.

FIJIANA XV – Tries: Vani Buleki, Varanaise Qoro. Conversion: Litiana Vueti.
SPRINGBOK WOMEN – Tries: Xoliswa Khuzwayo (2), Nombuyekezo Mdliki, Lindelwa Gwala, Vainah Ubisi, Sizo Solontsi, Maceala Samboya, Byrhandré Dolf, Sinelitha Noxeke. Conversions: Libbie Janse van Rensburg, Dolf (4).

Photo: @WomenBoks/X

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