It’s tough to find positives when one of your biggest players picks up a lengthy injury.
John Dobson yesterday confirmed that Springbok and Stormers captain Siya Kolisi would face at least six to eight weeks on the sidelines after THAT tackle.
In their 27-0 humiliation of the Wellington Hurricanes, Kolisi was hit in a late tackle by Ricky Riccitelli, a malicious act that resulted in no consequences for the Canes hooker.
That’s obviously a big, big blow for the Stormers. Being without your World Cup-winning captain at the start of what could be a big year for them is as devastating as it is unnecessary. But it happened.
While Jaco Coetzee pulled his groin in the match, he will be good to go when the Bulls touch down in Cape Town.
Dobson has also confirmed that JD Schickerling won’t be ready for the Bulls game. On a more positive note, though, loose forwards Cobus Wiese and Juarno Augustus are both back in the mix and will play this weekend, and that alone adds more options to his loose trio for the weekend.
Then there’s still Johan du Toit and Ernst van Rhyn, two guys Dobson said are options at No 6, while Coetzee is likely to start at eight on Saturday.
Any review of Coetzee’s performance at the weekend would be enough to get any rugby fan excited about his future.
And by that I mean his near future. The way he delivered against the Hurricanes is a big part of that, and it wouldn’t be unrealistic to expect to see him in the Springbok set-up before this season comes to an end if he can stay injury-free, of course.
While the Stormers aren’t short on loosies, even with Kolisi being injured, the one remotely positive thing that comes with Riccitelli’s mess is that the other loose forwards in the Stormers set-up will have a bigger chance to prove their worth.