After the impressive win over the Cheetahs, the Stormers were shared with the good news that they have should have an almost full strength squad for their Super 14 tour.

The Stormers have a bye this week and will leave for Perth, where they play their first match of a four week away leg, on Monday. They are second on the log at present and will not relinquish that position this week as the third placed team, the Crusaders, are also taking their bye now.

The 21-8 win over the Cheetahs was scored in adversity as flyhalf Peter Grant was ruled out during the pre-match warm-up with a slight quadriceps strain. Fortunately though the decision to sit him out was only a precautionary measure and Grant will definitely leave with the rest of the Stormers team and be ready to return to action in the Force game on Good Friday.

The news concerning inside centre Juan de Jongh is also good. The 21-year-old backline star missed the Cheetahs game with an elbow injury but the prognosis was always that he would be back in time to play in Perth. He has confirmed that his rehabilitation is on track and he expects to be in the selection mix for the Force game.

As it turns out, the selection for that game might not be the foregone conclusion some think it might be following Tim Whitehead’s excellent debut against the Cheetahs. De Jongh was excellent in the first five Super 14 matches of the season, but he is essentially an outside centre, and there have been occasions when the Stormers have looked like they have two outside centres playing together.

Whitehead is a specialist inside centre, and as backline coach Robbie Fleck said before the Cheetahs game, he looks very much in the mould of former England star Will Greenwood. His distribution skills are outstanding, and it may not be a coincidence that his appearance at No 12 coincided with Jaque Fourie’s best attacking game in a Stormers jersey.

Talking of inside centres, the Stormers could soon be overflowing with players more than capable of playing that position at Super 14 level. We still don’t know for sure if Jean de Villiers will be returning to Western Province when he comes back to South Africa from Munster later this year, but even if he doesn’t, there is plenty of quality available.

Morgan Newman, a surprise choice in Springbok coach Peter de Villiers’s first squad last year, returned from a long-term injury for the Western Province Vodacom Cup team against Border at the weekend and he looked solid. Whitehead took just one game to establish his Super 14 credentials, Peter Grant is always an option for No 12 on a day when the Stormers decide they need Willem de Waal’s tactical kicking.

Also back in training last week was another inside centre, Paul Bosch, who was injured in a pre-season friendly. Bosch played inside centre for WP in their Currie Cup semifinal against the Blue Bulls last season and acquitted himself well in what in every respect was a massive, high intensity game.

Another player back in action this past weekend and probably more certain to tour than Newman is was lock Adriaan Fondse. The former Bulls second row forward has also been out for a long time with injury, but against Border he showed that he has now fully recovered and is ready to present a pleasing selection poser to coach Allister Coetzee.

First De Kock Steenkamp and then Anton van Zyl performed well at No 4 lock in Fondse’s absence, but Fondse is recognised as one of the best driving locks around and it shouldn’t be long before he is back in the starting team as partner to the rejuvenated and more physical Andries Bekker.

A knock to the hip forced fullback Joe Pietersen off against the Cheetahs but he is expected to recover in time to go on tour.

Source: supersport.co.za