Springboks muscle returns as Stormers hunt French scalps in Champions Cup opener

The Stormers have the services of three European-conquering Springboks back for the opening Champions Cup match against Bayonne in France on Friday evening.

Loose forward Ben-Jason Dixon will add some grunt and physicality, while tighthead Zachary Porthen and loosehead Ntuthuko Mchunu add more power to the scrum of the Cape side.

While the Boks are a welcome addition to the squad for the duel, it is still uncertain if any of them will feature. The Stormers scrum is currently an unstoppable force, and there will be little temptation to change things up front ahead of the clash.

Dixon, though, is a strong ball carrier and could add that extra battering edge against the big French players. He hasn’t played a lot of minutes for the national side, so he should be fresh for this game.

Stormers defence coach Norman Laker said they will still sit and decide as management who they’ll let loose this weekend when it comes to the returning Boks.

Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, utility back Damian Willemse and scrumhalf Cobus Reinach have all returned to South Africa, according to Laker, with the Cape side deciding to give them a proper rest. The trio featured prominently for the world champions in their five unbeaten November Tests.

“All of the guys on tour with us, including the returning Springboks, will come into contention for selection on Friday,” Laker confirmed.

“What I can’t say is if all three of the Boks will start, sit in the stands or on the bench. We have not decided on that just yet. We first wanted to see the (physical) condition they are in, in what mindspace they are, and we will take things from there.”

According to Laker, they had to shelve the victory over Munster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) really quickly because of the short turnaround ahead of Friday.

The Stormers will have limited training time in France, but are eager to put the right plans in place to continue their good run of wins overseas. While they are unbeaten in the URC, Laker warned that the Champions Cup will take a mental shift from them.

“We do not have a lot of preparation time for this clash on Friday, but we’ve started with the foundation. That first victory at Thomond Park was put behind us, and we are putting our heads down to work towards Friday evening’s encounter

“This is a brand new competition, and we are looking forward to the game and playing against our old teammate, Herschel Jantjies. We’ve been preparing for this game and haven’t all of a sudden started yesterday.

“We are on par in terms of what we want to do. Herschel is a quality player; he won a Rugby World Cup with South Africa and the URC with us. We know him inside out, and he knows our systems. It will be a challenging game.”