Director of rugby John Dobson hailed the young Stormers who made real strides in Project 2029 against the All Blacks, while giving a nod to veteran Deon Fourie’s display, reports DEVIN HERMANUS.
New Zealand on Friday beat the Stormers 38-21 in the historic Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry meeting between the teams at Cape Town Stadium.
The hosts were hit by a string of injuries throughout the match, with prop Sazi Sandi a late withdrawal, scrumhalf Imad Khan forced off early with a knee injury and Dewaldt Duvenage (broken arm) also departing late on. Captain Ruhan Nel didn’t return for the second half after picking up a calf issue.
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Despite the setbacks, Dobson was encouraged by what the likes of 20-year-old debutant Yaqeen Ahmed, loose forward Wandile Mlaba (21) and props Herman Lubbe (21) and Vernon Matongo (24) showed against the Kiwis, as part of the Stormers’ four-year vision to build an elite global rugby powerhouse.
“We’re making real progress. Obviously, Immy was terrible,” Dobson said. “It was going to be such a cool story game with Immy. With respect to Dewies, he’s not Carl Lewis. It would be such a nice game for Immy, that was an important part.
“But the project in terms of Immy, Yaqeen. Wandi Malaba – that’s a guy who’s absolutely confirmed is going to be a fantastic Stormer. It feels really progressive.
“Vern Matongo, even Herman Lubbe coming on at the end. I feel like we’re growing.
“To be fair, and I’m not saying we’re doing a brilliant job but two or three years ago, there were 10 guys who would’ve played across this weekend who are not available for injury – maybe eight in Argentina with the Springboks,” he added.
“Let’s be conservative, minus 15, and you go and produce this, I think the project is taking shape. And the age is coming down, despite Dewies and Brannas.”
Fourie, who scored a try in his first competitive game back from knee surgery, played over half the match – against the same opponent the 39-year-old Springbok faced in the last of his 13 Tests at the 2023 World Cup final – while carrying a shoulder injury.
“That is an incredible performance, isn’t it? For a guy again coming back from a serious injury… He made three tackles in 15 seconds, and two of them were try-saving. He’s remarkable,” Dobson said.
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Photo: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images
The post ‘The age is coming down, despite Brannas’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Director of rugby John Dobson hailed the young Stormers who made real strides in Project 2029 against the All Blacks, while giving a nod to veteran Deon Fourie’s display.
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