Burger, Blaauw ready to tackle Highlanders

Loosehead prop Wicus Blaauw is also on the road back after recovering from a shoulder injury. He is also ready to be considered, said coach Allister Coetzee.

“Wicus worked hard at his fitness the past two weeks and we will have a scrumming session on tomorrow (Tuesday) to see how things go. The Highlanders have an excellent scrum and that is probably one of the facets where they will attack us.

“After last weekend’s game (against the Cheetahs) they will be full of confidence, but I am happy with the way our scrums performed thus far.”

There was more good news for Stormers fans. Battle-hardened lock Adriaan Fondse trained on the field with the squad for the first time in a few months due to injury. Word from the Stormers camp is that Fondse is going to play Vodacom Cup rugby first to gain full match fitness before hopefully returning to the Super 14 fray against the Cheetahs.

Stalwart lock Andries Bekker didn’t take part in the lineout session on Monday, but it was just a precautionary measure after he took a bump against the leg on Friday night.

Coetzee emphasized that he doesn’t regard the defeat to the Brumbies last Friday as a tragedy. And he is not convinced wholesale changes are needed at this point in time.

“After a loss like this you don’t want to make too many dramatic changes,” he said. “We’re growing, we’re learning, we’re making mistakes and we have to make sure the players get the opportunity to rectify those mistakes.”