The Stormers team faces the need to balance within the United Rugby Championship (URC) tournament following their recent victory over Bristol Bears. The coaching staff is concerned about the condition of captain Ruhana Nel, who sustained a calf strain; if he cannot play in two consecutive matches, Wandisile Simelane will have to replace him at position No. 13 in the upcoming match against Scarlets.
The Cape Town-based team will resume its URC season after a convincing 49-12 win against Bristol Bears in the Champions Cup last weekend. On Saturday afternoon at 16:00, they will host the Scarlets team at the DHL Stadium.
Although the team has relied on its Springboks players for increased performance over the last two weeks, rugby director John Dobson hinted that some players might take a break this week in accordance with Bok rest protocols.
Siyakhuli Kolisi, who participated in the last three matches after returning to the Cape Town squad, appears set to receive a deserved rest. However, Dobson still needs to decide whether both Damian Willemse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will miss this match.
Willemse is likely the easiest to replace at fullback, but Stormers is experiencing a shortage of players specifically at flyhalf.
Dobson spoke of a 'critical plan' developed by the team for the season. This plan dictates when players will play, when they should rest, especially the Bok players, and how many games in a row they can be included in the squad.
Dobson stated: 'I think it is important to stick to the critical path. In all four games, we selected our squads and followed our plans. Obviously, we had to work with the available players, and as one of you wrote, there is an element of 'go or die'. It is an opportunity.'
He continued: 'We know we have a big month ahead. We must give Wandi Simelane another game in the next two matches, without a doubt. You can always count on Damian Willemse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. We will stick to this path.'
Dobson emphasized the need for Sacha to rest: 'At some point, Sacha will need a break. Otherwise, we will destroy him, considering the World Cup and everything he has gone through this season. I think he played 520 minutes before returning to us, and now he has shown two outstanding games, so he clearly needs a break.'
He added that the same situation applies to Damian: 'Perhaps the same goes for Damian. We have a plan, and we will follow it. I don't think we will see anything on Saturday that will make us panic and say that [we need to change plans], because one player is absent next week, and someone else is absent the week after that, we need to change something.'
If Dobson decides to make changes to the squad before the match against Scarlets, he will try again to limit changes to maintain the cohesion that the Stormers team has built over the last couple of weeks. Although the Welsh team is expected to be a strong opponent on Saturday.
Stormers have won all seven previous encounters against Scarlets and aim to maintain this dominance. They are currently in fourth place in the URC table, and an additional win with bonus points will help them remain among the top teams.