Stormers keep Boks in cotton wool

None of the Stormers’ big names have been considered for a mild pre-season hit out against a Combined Club XV on Saturday as coach Robbie Fleck protects his major assets.

All the franchise’s current Springboks have been left out and are part of a ‘conditioning group’ while the 27-man playing group to take on the opposition consists mainly of Currie Cup players.

Springbok captains Siya Kolisi‚ Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit were not considered as they are all on individual conditioning programmes after ending their season in early December after international duty.

Others such as hooker Bongi Mbonambi‚ centre Damian de Allende‚ prop Steven Kitshoff and flyhalf Damian Willemse will also be wrapped in cotton wool for a while longer.

The 17-man conditioning group‚ which includes a total of 12 Springboks‚ will train at the False Bay Rugby Club prior to the ‘official’ match.

Fleck said that having put in some hard work on the training pitch‚ his players are keen to get things going against some top club players.

"After a rewarding pre-season‚ we will be able to gauge where we are in our first warm-up game.

"It is great to involve local club players in our Vodacom Super Rugby preparations; we are lucky to have quality club talent at our disposal like this.

"Our pre-season has been focused on connecting with the community and engaging with our fans by training at different venues around the Western Cape.

"We want to be a team of the people and so it will be great to spend some more time with our supporters.

"It is important to take this first step and get some gametime under our belts. It should be a valuable learning experience for us and we will also use the opportunity to do some conditioning with the rest of our training squad‚" he said.

Stormers playing group: Juarno Augustus‚ Craig Barry‚ Kwenzo Blose‚ Jaco Coetzee‚ Dan du Plessis‚ JJ Engelbrecht‚ Neethling Fouche‚ Herschel Jantjies‚ Daniel Jooste‚ Dan Kriel‚ Michael Kumbirai‚ Nico Leonard‚ Dillyn Leyds‚ SP Marais‚ Salmaan Moerat‚ Scarra Ntubeni‚ Justin Phillips‚ Marno Redelinghuys‚ Seabelo Senatla‚ Joshua Stander‚ Edwill van der Merwe‚ Kobus van Dyk‚ Ernst van Rhyn‚ Chris van Zyl‚ Ali Vermaak‚ Cobus Wiese‚ Nama Xaba.

Stormers conditioning group:

Damian de Allende‚ Pieter-Steph du Toit‚ Jean-Luc du Plessis‚ Eben Etzebeth‚ Corne Fourie‚ Steven Kitshoff‚ Siya Kolisi‚ Wilco Louw‚ Frans Malherbe‚ Bongi Mbonambi‚ Ruhan Nel‚ Sikhumbuzo Notshe‚ Sergeal Petersen‚ JD Schickerling‚ Chad Solomon‚ Jano Vermaak‚ Damian Willemse.