'We'll have to dig deep,' sasys Stormers coach ahead of Sunwolves meeting

07 April 2016 - 02:42 By Craig Ray

It's been a bad week on the injury front for the Stormers, who lost lock Eben Etzebeth on Monday and then flyhalf Kurt Coleman on Tuesday afternoon.Etzebeth will be out for up to six weeks with a grade one calf muscle tear.But the news, and ramifications of Coleman's freak injury, are much worse for the team.Coleman ruptured knee ligaments with no one near him during a routine training drill, ending his season at a time when he was just finding confidence again after strong displays against the Brumbies and Jaguares. He will be operated on this Friday.The 21-year-old Jean-Luc du Plessis will make his run-on debut against the Sunwolves on Friday night as a consequence of Coleman's misfortune. While the situation presents opportunities for Du Plessis and last year's SA under-20 flyhalf Brandon Thomson, it poses a headache for coach Robbie Fleck.He has already lost Rob du Preez until July and Dillyn Leyds for the rest of the season. The Stormers' campaign, which had been going along smoothly until this point, now rests on the shoulders of two callow flyhalves with less than 40 minutes of Super Rugby experience between them.Fleck dismissed the option of looking outside the union to find a short-term experienced campaigner to see them through these testing times."We're going to have to dig deep and make some clever plans now," Fleck said."Part of the long-term, was to back the youngsters. But it is a blow to lose guys like Dillyn and Kurt, especially since Kurt was starting to play with confidence after big performances against the Brumbies and Jaguares."I rate Jean-Luc highly. It was a matter of time before he got a start. He's a complete footballer, he has a good rugby brain and he likes to take charge. He plays the situation and is never flustered as far as his goal-kicking is concerned. Jean-Luc kicked with 89% accuracy at under-21."Fullback Cheslin Kolbe will provide cover at flyhalf this weekend while Thomson has a run with the WP Currie Cup team against the Bulls in Friday's curtain-raiser to the Sunwolves game.Lock Rynhardt Elstadt makes a timely return to the bench after a six-week absence, providing solid backup for Etzebeth.Springbok centre Damian de Allende also returns to the squad for the first time this season after recovering from an ankle injury.Louis Schreuder will start at scrumhalf with Nic Groom nursing a slight knee injury while halfback Godlen Masimla is included on the bench.There is also rotation in the pack with props Vincent Koch and Oli Kebble starting while Frans Malherbe and JC Janse van Rensburg move to the reserves. No 8 Schalk Burger will start, with Nizaam Carr back on the bench...

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