Stormers confident they can bounce back on European tour without Springboks
The Stormers squad form a huddle during a training session.
The Stormers are confident they can cope without the services of their Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks for the remainder of their United Rugby Championship (URC) tour of Europe.
The men from the Cape started their tour with a 20-9 defeat to Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun at the weekend and are looking to return to the victory trail against Benetton in Treviso on Saturday, before facing Munster – in a repeat of the 2023 URC final – at Thomond Park and Cardiff at the Arms Park.
Excellent start to URC season
Prior to that loss to the Warriors, the men from the Cape started their URC campaign with back-to-back bonus-point victories over the Lions in Johannesburg and Scarlets in Stellenbosch.
They will have to play their upcoming matches without their Springbok quartet of Frans Malherbe, Deon Fourie, Manie Libbok and Damian Willemse after South Africa‘s URC teams were informed by SA Rugby that the 2023 World Cup winners, who are based in the country, were given an enforced three-week break.
“They’re not going to feature on this tour. There are plans to get them into the system in the December games,” Stormers skills coach and technical analyst Labeeb Levy told News24.
“There are protocols involved… if they had lost in the (World Cup) quarter-finals, then they would probably [have been on the tour].
“But obviously, with the awesome performance that they put in and the physicality that they brought, they need a break and there are protocols from week to week.”
Staying positive
Despite that news, Levy is positive the men from the Cape can bounce back without their Rugby World Cup winners and is backing the Stormers’ players in Europe to do the required job.
“The more they played obviously affected us, but we’re happy for them and we’re looking forward to having them back,” he said.
“But we’re also very comfortable with the current crew that we’ve got. But when they come in, we’ll embrace them, obviously.”
READ MORE: Munster boss comments on World Cup-winning Springbok’s future