Stormers boss John Dobson will have his fingers crossed that club captain Ruhan Nel is cleared to reclaim his regular spot at outside centre and tackle Ulster next week.
Nel watched from the sidelines on Saturday at Cape Town Stadium, where the hosts conceded six tries in a 52-40 victory over the Scarlets in round four of the URC.
Last week, he was withdrawn on the eve of the Stormers’ Investec Champions Cup win over the Bristol Bears due to a calf injury and will be reassessed ahead of Ulster’s visit.
Without Nel, Dobson acknowledged that the team struggles to shut down the space out wide when the opposition moves the ball to the edges.
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“He’s a defensive champion,” he said. “Local derbies and South African attacks, we can handle pretty comfortably, and maybe some of those northern hemisphere conditions.
“But then you’ve got Connacht or Cardiff, who have sophisticated stack attacks. What teams are doing to us, like Bristol did last week, is take us to the blindside.
“If we aren’t perfectly numbered, they bring us into the open and take away our line speed.
“We have to evolve … That’s where Ruhan is good,” Dobson added.
“Stormers versus Sharks, the defensive pressure is different to Stormers versus Connacht, or Leinster. It just is, and we have to be better at that quickly.
“We’ll see how he goes on Monday. I’m not worried about the captaincy. The point about defence is not that Wandi [Simelane] is bad, it’s just that Ruhan is such a leader in that channel.”
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The director of rugby also has to give Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu a break and could bring in a hooker on a short-term basis following injuries to André-Hugo Venter, Deon Fourie and Lukhanyo Vokozela, as well as JJ Kotzé’s suspension.
“Hopefully Boepa [Vokozela] passes his second HIA, and there’s still Vernon Paulo, but we might have to look at hooker to get somebody in.
“I presume [Fourie’s] not going to be fit for next week.”
Loose forward still remains a challenge, Dobson noted, but Louw Nel and Wandi Mlaba could come into the mix.
Photo: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images
The post Dobbo misses his ‘defensive champion’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Stormers boss John Dobson will have his fingers crossed that club captain Ruhan Nel is cleared to reclaim his regular spot at outside centre and tackle Ulster next week.
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