The Stormers enter this year’s United Rugby Championship (URC) with no fewer than five flyhalves in their squad, while fullback Clayton Blommetjies has also thrown his name into the hat of late.
Blommetjies did duty for the Streeptruie in their pre-season matches against SWD and the Sharks on the same day two weeks ago after they lost both Jurie Matthee and Jean-luc du Preez, while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was playing for the U21s.
Blommetjies, though, is an “in case of an emergency” 10, with the other two specialist flyhalves (Manie Libbok and Damian Willemse) currently with the Springboks in France.
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As they head into their URC opener against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday, assistant coach Dawie Snyman is happy with the amount of playmakers in their group and says Libbok and Willemse will get some time off when they return from the World Cup.
Snyman says: “Manie, over the last two seasons, played a lot of rugby for us - he’s got the most minutes in the URC last season. So it’s a nice opportunity [now] for us to build a bit of depth [in that position].
“Sacha had a great u21 tournament and our stock at 10 looks good. There are youngsters and a guy like Jean-Luc brings a lot of experience. It’s a really important position, so we’ve got a few guys that can cover there and do well for us this season.”
Asked if Blommetjies , 33, is one of those guys, Snyman adds: “At this stage, he is a guy that gives us that versatility. If we’re gonna go for a bigger forwards bench [split], he can help us out. His first choice will be 15, but it’s nice if he can cover 10 for us.”
Head coach John Dobson will name will name his first team for the new season on Friday.