Salmaan Moerat back to boost injury hit Stormers

Springbok lock Salmaan Moerat will provide a much needed boost to the ailing, injury hit Stormers for their Champions Cup encounter against Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop in London on Saturday night.

Moerat, who impressed for the Boks during the international season and captained them on a couple of occasions, will bring good leadership qualities on his return from injury to a team missing a host of first-choice players due to injury.

Along with Moerat, props Frans Malherbe, Steven Kitshoff and Sti Sithole, loose forwards Deon Fourie and Evan Roos, centre Dan du Plessis, utility back Damian Willemse and outside back Ben Loader have all been out injured.

Utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu returned from injury, but he has been out with concussion, so is also unavailable for this weekend’s match.

Last weekend during their 24-14 Champions Cup loss against Toulon, the Stormers added eighthman Keke Morabe, who may be out for the rest of the season with a broken leg, to the injury list, as well as flyhalf Manie Libbok and loose forward Ben Jason-Dixon, both out with concussion.

It has thus left them extremely short of star power, so the return of Moerat will be a timely boost and he will likely play an integral role in a side that will be largely second string, as a few players will have been left back at home for their upcoming United Rugby Championship derbies.

Tough injuries

“It has been tough for us injury wise. Over the last few games we have had to make nine first half substitutions which is very disruptive,” Stormers assistant coach Norman Laker said on Tuesday.

“But Salmaan Moerat is back and available for selection. It is fantastic to have him back. He is a quality player and leader, so having him back will mean a lot to the team.

“At the moment we have a lot of injuries, we can’t look away from that. So we have one or two youngsters who might get an opportunity to prove that they can make the step up.”

The ‘home’ loss against Toulon, at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha, has put the Stormers in an unenviable position of needing to try get an upset win over the English Premiership side on their home turf.

Last season a second-string Stormers almost upset Leicester Tigers in England, and they will have to produce a similar performance to try and upset the odds this time as well.

“It’s obviously disappointing losing at home.  But we are definitely looking for the same type of performance (that they produced against Leicester), and hopefully we will come out with a win this time,” admitted Laker.

“Leicester Tigers are a quality outfit like Harlequins, so we know what to expect from them on Saturday, and we will go all out for the win.”