‘It’s unprecedented,’ wounded Stormers gun for Quins scalp    

Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson admitted that his side were in an unprecedented injury crisis, but were still excited for the future, ahead of their Champions Cup match-up against Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop in London on Saturday night (kick-off 10pm).

The Stormers have a scarcely believable 17 frontline players sidelined, which has led to them naming an incredible five franchise debutants in their match day 23 for the game against Quins.

It is not often that a team hands a debut to a player in the Champions Cup, let alone five, and it will be an amazing experience for the teams up and coming youngsters as they target an unlikely upset against some of the top talent in English Premiership rugby.

“It’s unusual for guys to make their debuts straight in the Champions Cup. It’s both partly due to the players we have available and our real desire to bring these youngsters through. They’ve trained a lot with us and deserve an opportunity,” explained Dobson ahead of the match.

“It’s just an extraordinary situation. (Former CEO) Rob Wagner has been with this union since 1992 and he’s never seen something like this (injury crisis).

“But it’s a team that’s hungry, excited, talented. It’s the future of the union. I’m aware of the situation we’re in. You can’t lose a Champions Cup home game (against Toulon) like we did. But I’m also aware that we’re going to do something special tomorrow night.”

Flyhalf duel

One of the interesting match ups will see Stormers budding flyhalf talent Jurie Mathee come face to face with England maverick Marcus Smith in what should be a fascinating duel.

Mathee is no stranger to facing up to top international talent, after he performed admirably against Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard when a similarly second string Stormers almost upset Leicester Tigers at Welford Road in the Champions Cup, going down 35-26 in the end.

“Jurie is a bit like Manie (Libbok). He has the ability to keep calm and put things behind him. He’s a really cool customer,” said Dobson.

“Marcus Smith was probably the form flyhalf during the (November Test) series, so it’s a whole team thing around that. We’ve got plans to contain him, but I don’t think that’s Jurie’s personal problem, he’s got another job in the way he drives us forward.”

Where the Stormers have received a boost is the return of Bok lock Salmaan Moerat for his first game of the season for his franchise, and he will bring a wealth of experience and leadership qualities to the team.

“Salmaan has got an enormous presence. He’s captained South Africa twice this season. That’s an immense value to any team,” admitted Dobson