Following their United Rugby Championship (URC) success last term, it was expected that the Stormers would go on a helse shopping spree.
They mos now had extra geld innie bank.
Just look at the Sharks in Durban and what they did with all their private equity geld – bought Bongi Mbonambi, Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzbebeth, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and wie weet wie nog.
At the Bulls, the same thing –Sbu Nkosi, Marco van Staden etc.
The Stormers replaced Warrick Gelant with Clayton Blommetjies and Bongi Mbonambi with Joseph Dweba, while also bringing in Stefan Ungerer and Willie Esterhuizen among some unknown players.
Still, coach John Dobson said after last week’s win over Edinburgh that he is happy with the depth at the union. That’s because he is not scared to give local talent a run in the famous Streeptrui.
Cape Town’s eie are coming through the ranks at the union.
In the words of Marvin Orie, who captained the side against Edinburgh: “It was a big honour to lead the team, I grew up in Cape Town, in Belhar.
“At 13 I got picked up into the system at WP. To lead the team today was a big honour…”
Asked about youngster Suleiman Hartzenberg scoring two tries, he then adds: “It’s exceptional.
“It’s going to take a long time for me to mention all the names, but Herschel Jantjies (Kylemore), Damian Willemse (Strand), Suleiman (Manenberg), Nizaam Carr (Mitchell’s Plain) was here.
“I think it’s credit to the coaches and everyone involved to get the players from all the communities – we want to give hope to the people of Cape Town…
“It’s exciting for rugby in this region.”
While picking the best players from all over Cape Town, identifying them at a young age is crucial.
And Dobson believes the Stormers are sitting with a golden generation.
He says: “We are on the edge of a very special generation.
“I can list quite a few players, at U21 you just look at Andre-Hugo, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Conor Evans, Sacha Mngomezulu, Imad Khan, Kade Wolhuter and some players I’m not even mentioning.
“If we can keep this group together, we can be in a really good place in this city.”
While these youngsters might not all get a chance to shine for the Stormers on their current tour of Europe, Dobson will be giving them a run in the United Rugby Champs this season.
He adds: “We have to play them this season. The tour is probably tougher [to give them opportunities because we are] limited to how many people we can take.
“But then we go on a phase where we’ve got Lions, Scarlets, Dragons. The thing about these youngsters is that we have to look at this season as an investment season.
“They have to play and they will be better [for it]. We have to give them URC caps. So there is a sort of approach we worked out – they will play.”
So while the rest of the country is intent on buying all the big names, the big focus in the Mother City is to keep it local.
Yours truly is a big fan of this approach and with the team currently unbeaten in 13 matches – dating back to last season – there is simply no reason for anyone to complain.
But know this, with the grooming of our own talent, there will be some hiccups along the way.