Montgomery on the move
February 19, 2002

The need for a dependable goalkicker will probably see Marius Goosen at fullback and Percy Montgomery at wing for the Stormers in Friday night's Super 12 game against the Sharks in Durban.

Stormers coach Gert Smal drafted Goosen, a former Western Province under-21 star, from the Pumas after the Bulls overlooked him for their squad. Solid performances at fullback and flyhalf in the warm-up games and a better success rate than Montgomery (pictured) during goalkicking practice now makes Goosen a certainty at fullback for Friday night's game.

The former Boland player ran there during training, with Springbok fullback Montgomery occupying the right wing berth. Smal, however, said he plans two more kicking sessions before making a decision about his goalkicker on Friday night.

"Percy and Marius had a kicking session on Monday and I plan two more such sessions before I make a final decision about the place kicker. Currently Marius' success rate is highter than Percy's," Smal told reporters.

Montgomery played centre for the Springboks under Carel du Plessis and also at flyhalf during Harry Viljoen's rein, but the last time he played at wing was years ago for the WP under-21 side. However, he relishes the shift.

"It will be somewhat of a challenge, but fortunately it is not difficult for a fullback to make the change to wing. The skills you need at fullback are very similar to those you need at wing. At fullback you also need to do a lot more defensive work than at wing," said Montgomery.

"Percy scored a lot of spectacular tries for me on the wing for Gardens-Tech and I see no reason why he should not do the same for the Stormers," said Smal when asked if a week was enough time for Montgomery to adjust to his new position.

Captain Corne Krige trained without a hiccup on Monday after having the cast removed from his injured thumb and Smal was chuffed about his captain's return to the training field. "Corne is fine," he said. "He can catch and pass with no discomfort."

Substitute tighthead prop Faan Rautenbach missed training with a sore throat, but is expected to be ready for Friday night's clash.

Meanwhile, Smal wants to keep Pumas and Renegades flanker Pierre Uys in Cape Town for another week. Uys is having a trial with the Stormers after the injuries to Krige and Hannes de Kock, who is battling a hamstring injury. "Pierre will probably stay here for another week," Smal said.

"I want to see how the Vodacom Cup games go and I also want to see how Corné goes this Friday and what Hannes de Kock's hamstring looks like early next week."

Probable Stormers team: Marius Goosen, Percy Montgomery, Marius Joubert, De Wet Barry, Pieter Rossouw, Werner Greeff, Johannes Conradie, Adri Badenhorst, Hendrik Gerber, Corne Krige (capt), Quinton Davids, Hottie Louw, Cobus Visagie, Pieter Dixon, Daan Human. Substitutes: Jeffrey Stevens, Wayne Julies, Noel Oelshig, Pietie Ferreira, Thys Stoltz, Faan Rautenbach, Tjoepie van den Heever.

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