Last chance saloon for hopeful Stormers
February 14, 2001

The battle for places in the Stormers 30-man Super 12 squad reaches its climax on Wednesday night in their last warm-up game against Western Province at Newlands.

Coach Alan Solomons will not only announce his starting line-up on Wednesday for the first game against the Cats on February 24, but also the touring party for the overseas leg of the Stormers campaign.

With a lot of uncertainty about the one hooker position, tighthead prop, Hottie Louw's lock partner and the loose forwards, the race for places is still wide open.

And this is the last chance to impress the coach, who on Wednesday said while one has to take cognisance of performances in this game, there are a lot of factors to be considered when he makes his final decisions.

"It won't be based purely on these performances, but they will play a significant part," he said. "I think one has really got to look at the hookers and it should be interesting to see how they fare tonight.

"I think Charl (Marais) has proved himself. He is the No 2 hooker in the national ratings at the moment and has tremendous experience of the Super 12. It really is just a matter of him proving his fitness after his rib injury," Solomons said.

"As for his back-up, it's a choice between Johan van Wyk and Pieter Dixon. Both of them are good players and they bring different things to the party," he added.

Van Wyk is in the Western Province team for Wednesday night, with Dixon on the Stormers bench. It is expected that they will be in direct confrontation in the second half, when Marais will get a breather.

Former Eastern Province star Morne van der Merwe is also back in the fray after a calf injury and he will get a run from the bench. Van der Merwe has played with success at tight- and loosehead for Wellington in last year's New Zealand Provincial Competition and a good showing on Wednesday could see him partner Robbie Kempson against the Cats.

"At lock we know Hottie is there, but the question remains of who will partner him," Solomons offered. Quinton Davids is the chosen one against WP, but John Slade and Thys Stoltz are by no means out of the running. A barnstorming performance by SA under-23 lock Drickus Hancke for Western Province could, however, see him leapfrog the three other contenders.

Solomons mentioned he still intends to query Sarfu about the availability of impressive Boland lock Heino Senekal, who is also a Namibian international. "I know what the answer's going to be and it makes sense to me. It is no use playing a guy in the Super 12 who is not eligible for the Springboks," Solomons lamented on Senekal's non-availability.

The coach said with Joggie Viljoen waiting in the wings, he wants to give scrumhalf Neil de Kock more game time on Wednesday.

This game is a very important one for Adri Badenhorst, who illuminated the Currie Cup season with some sublime performances at No 8 for Western Province last year. He now, however, has to compete with Bob Skinstad and Chean Roux if he wants to play in his favoured position at the back of the scrum.

Badenhorst played at flank against South Western Districts and for 25 minutes at lock against the Kavaliers. Solomons promised he would get 40 minutes at No 8 against Province.

"Adri is a very good player, but like everybody else he has to compete for his spot. We had a look at his versatility and we wanted to try things, but against Province he will get a run at No 8. I promised the players I'd try and do things as fairly as possible.

"Chean had a good Super 12 season last year when Bob was injured and Adri got his chance and grabbed it in the Currie Cup when Chean was injured. Now it's a matter of proving themselves all over again," Solomons said.

Veteran flank Rob Brink is back after foot trouble and Solomons will follow his performance off the bench closely. It looks like the guillotine is going to fall on either him or Pietie Ferreira when the final squad is announced.

Solomons stressed that although this is his shadow team for the game against the Cats, it doesn't mean he won't make changes after Wednesday's game. "It's reasonably close, but it doesn't mean the side is going to look exactly the same," he answered to a question whether Skinstad will start in the Super 12 opener.

"It's important to give him game time and if he looks good in the first 40 minutes against WP, there is a possibility I'd bring him back later in the game. I think he has shown steady improvement thus far and he looked good in the second half against Boland. But I'll have a second look tonight and afterwards weigh up our options."

Teams for Newlands:

Stormers: Percy Montgomery; Breyton Paulse, Robbie Fleck, De Wet Barry, Pieter Rossouw; Braam van Straaten, Dan van Zyl; Bob Skinstad, Corne Krige (capt), Hendrik Gerber, Quinton Davids, Hottie Louw, Faan Rautenbach, Charl Marais, Robbie Kempson. Substitutes: Pieter Dixon, Morne van der Merwe, John Slade, Adri Badenhorst, Neil de Kock, Chris Rossouw, Stuart Abbott, Rob Brink, Robert Markram.

Western Province: Donovan van Vuuren, Nico Alberts, Jean de Villiers, Tinus Linee (capt), Egan Seconds, Eric Olivier, Johannes Conradie, Chean Roux, Fiela van Zyl, Gavin Pfister, Drickus Hancke, Immanuel McKenzie, Eddie Andrews, Johan van Wyk, Piet Franken. Substitutes: Louis Laubscher, Bertus Smit/Joseph Price, Fred van der Merwe/Alton Hume, Donovan Sinclair/Ryno van der Merwe, Ashieq Wise, Dave Cummins/Yazeed Manuel, Jaco van Schalkwyk/Willem de Waal.

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