Sireli to front Canes
10 Mar 2010
Allister Coetzee has favoured the bulkier Sireli Naqelevuki over the free-running Gio Aplon for the Stormers’ clash with the Hurricanes.
The Fijian produced a strong performance against the lowly Highlanders last week, carrying several defenders on his back whenever he attacked the advantage line. Aplon didn’t start that match because of the flu, and that illness seems to have cost him. Naqelevuki proved his worth and is picked because physicality rather than pace will prove crucial against the Canes.
Coetzee tried to pass off Naqelevuki’s selection as one of continuity following last week’s 33-0 win over the Hurricanes, but there’s little doubt the Fijian is more likely to trouble the Canes defenders in close contact. The Stormers coach also said the back-three won’t be exposed without the left boot of Aplon.
‘We want to keep the ball in hand this week,’ he told keo.co.za, ‘it has nothing to do with the opposition. We’re focused on what we want to achieve.
‘Rain is forecast for Saturday, and while we won’t fight the elements, we’d like to play a running game.’
Despite Coetzee’s mention of a ball-in-hand approach, the Stormers are unlikely to alter a winning formula. Nobody, not the media or public, is going to complain if they beat the Hurricanes 3-0 on Saturday, as this remains one of the most important matches of the league stage.
Coetzee has retained Dewaldt Duvenage at scrumhalf to give the Stormers a kicking option at No 9, while Anton van Zyl’s inclusion in the second row suggests a five-jumper lineout will target the Canes in an area where the visitors are weak.
Tiaan Liebenberg is also back after missing the last game with flu, and will be a boost at scrum time. Deon Fourie is a good ball carrier with a loose forward’s turn of speed, but can’t compare to Liebenberg for powerful, tackle-busting running or aggressive scrummaging.
‘They have an all All Blacks front row, so it’s going to be a massive challenge for us in that department,’ admitted Coetzee. ‘Deon played very well last week, but we felt Tiaan has the experience for this very important battle.’
Stormers – 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Sireli Naqelevuki, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Subs: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Lionel Cronje, 22 Gio Aplon.
By Jon Cardinelli
70 Comments
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10 Mar 2010, 15:53 pm
Looking better than he has in a long time. Just no high tackles on Smith please. He has a low centre of gravity and will try and duck under the tackle…..
10 Mar 2010, 15:59 pm
Fijian Dragon.
10 Mar 2010, 16:00 pm
@stormersboy:
Let’s hope the Fijian retains his hunger from last week. Otherwise he’s just gonna Naqele-walkie all over the pitch again.
10 Mar 2010, 16:02 pm
Actually a very good looking team, from 1 through 22. No real weak link anywhere. i’m looking forward to seeing more of Lionel Cronje. Really haven’t seen enough of him against strong opposition to form an opinion……
10 Mar 2010, 16:06 pm
not a bad call…
let Sireli run at the big guys for 60 minutes and tire them out… then let Gio loose to run rings round them… like a mini-hurricane…
10 Mar 2010, 16:10 pm
I reckon they should do the same substitutions as last week, but just with time to spare:
Bring Cronje in, move Grant to 12, De Jongh to 13, Aplon for Sireli, and let the k@k spat!
J. Fourie’s a bit of a worry at the moment – let’s hope he lifts his game this weekend.
10 Mar 2010, 16:10 pm
I hope Lionel Cronje starts against the Cheetahs next week, Grant hasn’t done jack-**** so far, give Lionel a chance
10 Mar 2010, 16:10 pm
Good call. Stormers needed another big line breaker in the backline.
10 Mar 2010, 16:15 pm
@XhosaKid: 7
With you on that one, but (I’m assuming) in the view of the coaches/management, Grant is probably a safe bet, and Cronje a bit of a gamble.
10 Mar 2010, 16:21 pm
@XhosaKid:
i’m with you there… cronje or de waal…
10 Mar 2010, 16:25 pm
i’d rather play with grant then without him
10 Mar 2010, 16:26 pm
No, no, no… Cronje, yes. De Waal, no.
10 Mar 2010, 16:27 pm
@4thWiseMan:
we’re talking about against the cheetahs here…
who would know more about their play and how to beat them…?
10 Mar 2010, 16:30 pm
De Waal’s playing Vodacom Cup, let sleeping dogs lie
10 Mar 2010, 16:34 pm
@st.a.t.w:
IMO… regretfully because he’s apparently a really nice guy…
but in my opinion 10 is the weak link in the Stormers set up… Grant isn’t playing ‘general’ and dominating the game… not getting us go-forward field position… not relieving pressure from within our own 22… not getting enough distance going for touch…
we need cronje ( or even De Waal) to play the territorial game so our backs can attack from around their 22… then you’ll see us getting try-scoring bonus points in every game…
what’s happening now is our tries are being scored through mauls or our back are scoring from deep, against the run of play…
we can’t expect our backs to attack and score from their own 22 all game long and expect 4-try bonus points…
we need a flyhalf who can secure us consistent position through strategic kicking from where our backs can do their magic…
sadly, Peter Grant ain’t that guy… IMO…
10 Mar 2010, 16:39 pm
have to agree about Grant, dependable but nothing flash. No real magic flyhalf in SA at the moment
10 Mar 2010, 16:46 pm
Gents, I think we should stick with Grant for now. Lionel should get more game time from the bench and be phased in slowly.
The oke is a greenhorn. We don’t want another ‘Gaffie’ situation now do we??
10 Mar 2010, 16:49 pm
@ufo:
I dont think Grant is the weak link. I think De Jongh’s distribution or lack of it is the problem!!!
10 Mar 2010, 16:49 pm
@ufo:
bwahahahahahaha
You said ‘go forward’
10 Mar 2010, 16:52 pm
Time for Jaque Fourie to come to party now
10 Mar 2010, 16:53 pm
I mean “the party”
10 Mar 2010, 16:56 pm
@nikoli:
Is your surname Blignaut??
10 Mar 2010, 16:57 pm
@nikoli:
10 Mar 2010, 16:57 pm
@wpw:
What is this phasing in ****, Derick Hougaard was a CC winner at 19, a s12 player and the Bok world cup FH at 20. He was thrown in the deep end, learned to swim with sharks and came out a LIEFLING.
Let the boy play!
10 Mar 2010, 16:59 pm
@wpw: I agree with you. He had a good game last week, and works well with Duvenage. It would send the wrong message to drop him now, and we’ll need his defence against the ‘canes
10 Mar 2010, 17:00 pm
@mxhosa:
Well, there are many more players who did NOT make it because they were thrown in too soon.
I think the Stormers coaching staff agree with my opinion or else he would have started a while ago!!
10 Mar 2010, 17:01 pm
Until that fateful day when Brian “The Chiropractor” Lima threw a spanner in the works… That young man hasn’t been the same since.
10 Mar 2010, 17:01 pm
@stormersboy:
Yep. And his defense has been solid!!
I can’t remember Grant missing a tackle in ages.
The problem is that he doesn’t dominate like Steyn does but he does the basics quite well…
10 Mar 2010, 17:06 pm
Good stuff.
This is a very powerful side. The best out of what we have available
10 Mar 2010, 17:08 pm
@4thWiseMan: Yes, and unfortunately I lay the blame solely at Joost VD Westhuizen’s feet for that one. He threw one of his usual wild passes above Hougaard’s head, with him having to stretch up to grab it, leaving his torso perfectly exposed for Lima’s diving tackle. It’s almost as if Joost wanted him out. Shocking pass. His tendency to pass too wildly is the one thing that stops him from being one of the all time greats. And I don’t care what Tacitus thinks.
10 Mar 2010, 17:13 pm
@wpw: @17, I find the “Gaffie Du Toit” analogy very ,very strange, in fact I dont buy into it at all, Gaffie was playing for Stellenboch when he was 21yrs old, played for Griquas when he was 22, made his Springbok debut the same year, I think it was 98, played against Ireland in Bloem, the boks won, was then part of the year end tour, came back the following year, played for the Cats, then against Wales and Italy, all this before infamous “Dave Van Hoesselen and Gaffie Du Toit” debacle against the All Blacks.
He was a 22 years old!!! with Super 12, tests experience under his belt!!, the fact of the matter Gaffie bottled, period, nothing to do with his age but he simply wasn’t up to it, some other players like JPP, who seem to be less talented compared to Gaffie at the same age, have almost 30 caps by the time they are 22yrs old.If there is anyone to blame, blame Gaffie for being chicken ****, Mallet didnt give him his debut against the All Blacks away from home
If you are good enough, you are old enough
ps: How do you explain WP using an Australian 19 yr old ahead of a South African 20 yr old??
10 Mar 2010, 17:14 pm
@wpw: @ 18
Yeah… but they are two seperate issues…
Grant is normally first receiver who’s job it is to put in those strategic, position-winning and pressure-relieving kicks…
kicking is not De Jongh’s job…
sure De Jongh needs to get the ball through his hands a lot more and a lot quicker… but that’s another debate…
10 Mar 2010, 17:17 pm
That 20 yr old Aussie didnt start for WP did he?? We used him becos we were desperate… And lastly, the CC is nowhere near as tough as the S14
10 Mar 2010, 17:17 pm
Does anybody know what’s up with hoffman when will he get a chance again?
10 Mar 2010, 17:17 pm
for sure guys… I’ll give credit where it’s due and Peter Grant’s defence is very good…
10 Mar 2010, 17:19 pm
Talking about age…… Careter was about 19 when played his first test, wasn’t he?
10 Mar 2010, 17:19 pm
Hoffman is playing VC rugby. He has yet to reproduce the form he had in his debut season
10 Mar 2010, 17:22 pm
Hoffman seemed to be rocking in the varsity cup….. I know the level of play is not the same, but I reckon that boy willplay big rugby one day.
10 Mar 2010, 17:24 pm
Who wants to take a stab at the scoreline on Saturday?
Stormers 35 Canes 24
10 Mar 2010, 17:26 pm
@stormersboy: You right, blame Joost, but then again,no, dont blame Joost, Joost did what any man would do under the same situation, he obviously hadn’t recovered from Brian “The Chiropractor” Lima’s tackle in 95. Joost was almost cut into halfs in 95, 8years late he knew, what was coming, sorry Houggie, it was either him ( again) or you old chap, we all know what Joost chose
10 Mar 2010, 17:30 pm
@wpw: @33, the 19 yr old Aussie had already played Super Rugby for the Brumbies, whilst we are cotton wooling our 20 yr olds, its rubbish
10 Mar 2010, 17:39 pm
Canes backlash sinks sorry Stormers? On a more serious note, what is the weather going to be like come the weekend? The Cape is going mad climate-wise.
10 Mar 2010, 17:41 pm
@Die_Valk: At the moment it is raining and they are expecting rain till next week
10 Mar 2010, 17:52 pm
Xhosa
Are you sure he played Super rugby for the Brumbies?? I dont think he played for them last yr!! He might have been contracted but i doubt he played
10 Mar 2010, 17:58 pm
He was on the bench for the Brumbies against the Stormers this year
10 Mar 2010, 18:09 pm
Where on earth did you guys see that it will be raining come saturday??? It’s gonna be all clear and the heat will start building again from saturday with the temp reaching 39c in paarl and i think 34 in ct on monday, much cooler that it has been lately, but far from rain…
10 Mar 2010, 18:11 pm
@mxhosa: I still remember the SA rugby mag. with Hougard on the front page and it said something like Bok’s secret weapon. Ja right…
10 Mar 2010, 18:12 pm
@THAT GUY/DAAI OU: Sorry the mag just before the world cup
10 Mar 2010, 18:25 pm
I wonder who will be the referee?
Typical Keo thread: the most important factor isn’t mention.
The musical chairs game of the Q backs’ selection is secondary, and, Sireli cost the Srormers their CC final, suddenly he is going to front up to Nonu?
The odds that Sireli will see some good ball via De Jongh are slim anyway
10 Mar 2010, 18:28 pm
@nikoli:
#20
Won’t happened with De Jongh in the way
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