Elstadt at 7 for Stormers
28 Mar 2012
Rynhardt Elstadt will start on the blindside flank as coach Allister Coetzee has picked a big, physical pack for Saturday’s derby with the Bulls.
Elstadt began his career as a loose forward, but has since been converted into a powerful lock. He recently returned from injury and played two matches at lock for Western Province in the Vodacom Cup, but will be used as a flank when he makes his first appearance of the season for the Stormers this weekend.
His selection at No 7 sees Duane Vermeulen moving to No 8 and Nick Koster dropping to the bench. Coetzee explained that the back row was picked with the opposition in mind.
‘The reason we’ve made that selection is because we want to get parity up front,’ he said. ‘We saw what the Bulls did to a Wallaby-studded pack last week – they absolutely demolished them. We have to be prepared for that physical assault.
‘Rynhardt’s played two games so he is match ready, and is no stranger to the flank position. He played there for the WP U21s and the SA U20s. He will give us something extra as a ball-carrier and another good lineout option.
‘All in all it means we go into this game with a big pack, and that’s what you need against the Bulls.’
Eben Etzebeth has been retained at No 4 after an impressive start to his debut season. Coetzee said that the return of Elstadt had forced the coaches to make some tough decisions, but it was felt that while Elstadt needed to be accommodated, Etzebeth deserved to continue as the team’s enforcer.
‘We will adopt a horses for course approach from hereon in,’ Coetzee said.
Meanwhile, the Stormers have received some bad news on the injury front. Reserve flyhalf Gary van Aswegen has seriously injured his ankle and will be out for three to four weeks. This means that he will not tour Australasia with the team.
The touring group of 26 players will be announced on Saturday.
Stormers – 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Nick Koster, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.
By Jon Cardinelli
375 Comments
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29 Mar 2012, 07:06 am
just heard the stormers are lining up an offer for sannie berl williams…
makes a lot of sense strategy wise as far as the battle for hearts and minds of the cape all black supporters are concerned.
it would help get more capetonians behind the team as well sell a lot more merchandise and the bonus would be his fancy offloads and presence in the midfield.
29 Mar 2012, 07:50 am
@Robzim(Robzim)-207: Hey Rob
On the face of it that is a worrying percentage, there’s a big difference between 17% and the next lowest of 50%, more so than could be attributed to poor form
BUT
an important figure would be the number of games reffed by each? If it’s similar then I would say there’s cause for concern.
That said, this has the potential to be one of the games of the year and I hope it delivers!!! Would be a real shame if the reffing was the main talking point after, but with these 2 squads I can’t see it being a dull match
29 Mar 2012, 08:04 am
as i said early yesterday…
the best way to take the ref out of the equation (whether it’s amaJoubaJouba or any other ref) is to avoid the 50:50 plays… so he can’t make any 50:50 calls…
be patient… stay focused… and go for accurate execution of everything… and only make the plays when they are certainties…
make sure you pass backwards… don’t pass to a player in a worse position… make sure you release the tackled player and roll away… make sure you’re all onside… pull back 10m when your team kicks etc etc…
discipline…
29 Mar 2012, 08:07 am
@ufo(ufo)-353: So basically what you are saying then is that the Stormers need to be clinical for 80 minutes?
29 Mar 2012, 08:10 am
@ufo(ufo)-353:
Don’t move your head when the ref says paaaaaws….
29 Mar 2012, 08:15 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-355:
hehehe…
exactly…!!
ja… that was a dodgy one…!!
29 Mar 2012, 08:16 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-354:
hahaha…
so basically… what i’m saying is…
there are better alternatives than using that word…
29 Mar 2012, 08:18 am
like you stormersboy… the hackneyed mis-use of that word irritates me too…
29 Mar 2012, 08:21 am
@ufo(ufo)-356:
Still gives me nightmares, may well cost the Cheetahs a place in next year’s comp…
29 Mar 2012, 08:23 am
@ufo(ufo)-358: Ja, clichés abound in the rugby world it seems.
But you are 100% right. The team who makes the most mistakes will most likely lose.
Those 50-50 calls may well be the subject of much debate after the game though.
I just hope that the result is unequivocal and that we aren’t debating controversial reffing calls but rather celebrating the winners.
29 Mar 2012, 08:27 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-360:
yeah… whoever wins wins… no prob with that… let’s just hope that we talk about the game, the players and some brilliant moves, or some abominable mistakes (by players)… rather than about the ref…
29 Mar 2012, 08:30 am
@ufo(ufo)-361:
which is pretty much what you said…
29 Mar 2012, 08:48 am
@ufo(ufo)-361: And by brilliant moves you will be referring to the excellent Stormers plays, the tries they score, the lineout ball they stole, the possession turned over.
And by abominable mistakes you mean the Bulls tries scored against them, the lineout ball they lost and the turnovers they conceded ….
29 Mar 2012, 08:51 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-363:
you’ve been reading guy mail…!
yeah…
and by brilliant i mean eben showing us why he needs extra heavy barbells…!!
29 Mar 2012, 08:52 am
grrrr…
you’ve been reading MY mail…
29 Mar 2012, 08:58 am
@ufo(ufo)-364: LOL yes looking forward to seeing Eben against Flip and Potgieter.
Some good match ups, It will give us a good early indication of relative form as there are a few guys challenging for position there. WO and JDV, Brian and Basson, Flip and Eben, Bekker and Juandre, it will be very interesting.
29 Mar 2012, 09:06 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-366:
yeah… will definitely give perspective to the state of both teams… and south african rugby…
newlands is gonna rock for sure…
29 Mar 2012, 09:13 am
Air punch time!
29 Mar 2012, 09:25 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-368: and some whoopin’ and a ‘hollorin’.
The Brock and Tiaan show.
Belie’ dat.
29 Mar 2012, 09:31 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-369:
I’m lookinf forward to seeing Brok standing in the fly-half channel for a few devastating runs.
29 Mar 2012, 10:09 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-370: You saying the Stormers are dangerous from Brock’n play?
29 Mar 2012, 10:16 am
Haters be Hatin’……..
29 Mar 2012, 10:25 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-371:
I’m saying that Brok is lethal.
For which team I’m not sure…
29 Mar 2012, 10:37 am
I’m excited about three things.
1. Scrums – I’m looking forward to see how Kitshoff & Co do against the bulls scrum.
2. Lineouts – The four best locks in the country will be playing for the bok jearsey this weekend, albeit this match is only part 1/2 or possibly 1/3. Also the two number 4′s facing up!!!
3. Backrow faceoff – I don’t want to like Potgieter, but I do, his strong, aggressive and quick. I like Elstadt on 7, he’s gonna bring the pain. Also Vermeulen vs. Spies (Number 8 bok encumbents) and the two green horns facing each other – Stander vs. Kolisi.
29 Mar 2012, 11:14 am
Heard on the radio that Sunny Bal is interested in playing for the Stormers in 2013.
He must work on his kicking game then he can somma play flyhalf.
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