Sacha and Damian back to boost Stormers for overseas tour

Springbok stars Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Damian Willemse are back to boost the Stormers for their two-game overseas tour in the United Rugby Championship (URC) as the Cape side chase a place in the competition’s top eight.

With six games to go in the pool phase the Stormers find themselves in a massive tussle for a place in the top half of the table, to qualify for the competition knockouts.

They are currently in 12^th place on 28 points, but the log is so congested that they sit just three points above Zebre in 15^th, one point behind the Lions in eighth place, and five points behind Munster in fifth, so anything is still possible down the back straight.

The Stormers have had a torrid time with injuries this season, which has contributed to their poor form, so having two of their star players back for what should be a tricky tour is a major boost, especially because they are notoriously bad travellers.

Both Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Willemse have yet to play this year, with both last in action in December and October respectively.

Willemse was injured in a match against Glasgow Warriors, which ruled him out of the Boks end-of-year-tour to the UK, while Feinberg-Mngomezulu suffered a slew of different injuries, ending with a sternum injury against the Sharks.

Fired up

Both players will thus be fired up to be back on the park and will be eager to make a big impact if they are included in the match 23 to face Scarlets in Wales on Saturday.

“They have been in and out of the squad in terms of their workloads over the past few weeks. But they had a full week with us last week, when they weren’t involved with the (Springbok) alignment camp,” explained Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman at a press conference on Monday.

“They are obviously class rugby players. Every time they are on the field you can see it, they bring presence and make a big difference. It’s not just on the field but off it as well in meetings and stuff like that. So we are really excited to have them in the squad again and hopefully things will go well.”

Another returning player is Suleiman Hartzenberg, who has recovered from a hand injury, and with all three players being utility backs it gives the Stormers plenty of options across their backline.

With them having been knocked completely out of the EPCR this season, after finishing bottom of their Champions Cup group, the Stormers can focus fully on the URC over the next two and a half months.

They will thus be eager to return to SA with at least one win from their two-game tour, with them up against Ulster in Ireland after Scarlets, before they finish with a four game home run.