Can rusty Springboks salvage struggling Stormers’ season?
Can rusty Springboks salvage struggling Stormers’ season?

And Dobson will get his first chance to use his Springboks on Saturday when the Stormers play Zebre in a URC match at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch.
During his Tuesday night media address, Dobson mentioned four Springboks who have resumed their training and might play for the Stormers against Zebre: Frans Malherbe, Deon Fourie, Damian Willemse, and Manie Libbok.
The Springboks’ lack of playing time is a little concerning, though, considering they haven’t played since the World Cup final, which was more than a month ago.
“We need to use a little caution when allocating them playing time. After the World Cup, they took some time off and rested well, according to the Stormers’ manager.
SPRINGBOKS MAN WON’T BE STOPPED BY PERSONAL LOSS
Dobson later admits the team has missed what he calls ‘game drivers’ and revealed that Springboks utility forward Deon Fourie is ready to go despite having to deal with some post-World Cup personal grief.
“That’s probably where we have struggled the most as a collective. Having game drivers like Manie or a real warrior who can lead by example like Deon, he is huge from a leadership point of view,” Dobson said of the Springboks.
“Deon has been through one of the craziest six weeks. He won a World Cup, his father passed away, he has just come back from the funeral.
“We offered him more time away, but he wants to play rugby. Just seeing him out there in the field, knowing who he is and what he’s done, has given us a massive bit of confidence.”
It really comes down to choosing whether to start Manie, manage his minutes, and then substitute him, or maybe not pushing him for eighty minutes.
“Some of them, perhaps not all of them, do need to be polished off,” I believe. Manie and Damian really need to get some rust off. All we have to do is control it.
“I’m not going to keep them in cotton wool and send them to an away game against La Rochelle or Leicester, even though I don’t think they can go from zero to eighty.” That isn’t equitable. They require a little exercise at home.
STARS ALL WORKING THEIR WAY BACK
Dobson also revealed that the World Cup winners were joined in training were loose forwards Hacjivah Dayimani and Evan Roos, tighthead prop Sazi Sandi, wing Leolin Zas and centre Suleiman Hartzenberg, who were all absent due to injury and suspension.
