Stormers receive Bok boost as they hunt critical win over Lions

The Stormers received a massive boost with the return of four Springbok stars, and veteran loose forward Deon Fourie to their starting 15 for their hugely critical United Rugby Championship (URC) game against the Lions at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 3:45pm).

Fourie will captain the team from openside flank, while Manie Libbok starts at flyhalf, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at inside centre, and Ben-Jason Dixon at blindside, after all three were cleared after suffering concussion a few weeks ago.

Star Bok tighthead prop Frans Malherbe also returns to the starting team after making his return from an ankle injury picked up at the end of October.

Exciting partnership

The partnership between Libbok and Feinberg-Mngomezulu is one that particularly excites Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson, who was thrilled to have a number of his Bok stars back, saying: “We have a lot of them back and it’s a great step forward for us.

“Our top 12s are Dan (du Plessis) and Damian (Willemse) and they are both injured. JL (Jean-Luc du Preez) did a reasonably good job there over the last few weeks. But if we had stuck with him one of Sacha or Manie would have had to drop to the bench.

“They are both Springboks and really good players. Both of them are extremely exciting and that’s a reason to come and watch the game by itself. If those two click it is going to be special. So that was an easy call to make.”

Fourie captaining the team was a surprise, with regular captain and lock Salmaan Moerat making his 50^th Stormers appearance in the game, but Dobson explained it had been a mix up.

“We were actually going to play Salmaan off the bench, but we realised it was his 50^th so put him back into the starting lineup. By that time we had already appointed Brannas (Fourie) as captain and he has been working with this group for the last two weeks so we just left it,” said Dobson.

With the Stormers having won just two games out of eight in all competitions this season, the Lions match is a must win for them as they want to start moving back up the URC table with them currently in 13^th place.

Big derby

They have another big URC derby against the Sharks next weekend, followed by a return to the Champions Cup (EPCR) where they have two win both their next games to stay alive in the competition.

“It is a must win. If we can win these two we will be in a much healthier position in the URC. It is a critical game for us,” admitted Dobson.

“We can also then build momentum going back into the EPCR and hopefully keep ourselves alive there.”

Fourie said he was thrilled to finally be back in the playing mix and was looking forward to a tough game against the Lions.

“It was a long journey. A lot of ups and downs. I have never been out of the game for so long, I think my (previous) longest was three months. This is the first time I’ve been out for eight months. So it has been a rollercoaster of emotions and rehab and I am so happy to be back,” said Fourie.

“It’s never easy watching from the side. All the emotions are there. The knee feels great and hopefully it holds up nicely.”