Win over Lions boost for Vodacom Stormers

The Stormers beat the Lions 30-8 at Newlands the past Saturday and even though they will be without ace centre Jean de Villiers on Saturday, Kobus van der Merwe’s charges would travel to Pretoria with a lot of confidence.

Yes, the guys will have a lot of self-confidence through the victory over the Lions. And it could still mean a lot for the rest of the season,” Van der Merwe said.

De Villiers is a contracted Springbok and national coach Jake White made an agreement with the Super 14 coaches that their Springboks would get enough rest during the Super 14 in order for them to be in peak condition at the World Cup later this year.

“In terms of the agreement with SA Rugby Jean will definitely be given some time out against the Bulls,” explained Van der Merwe.

“He suffered a leg injury on Saturday and that is why he left the field during the second half as a precautionary measure.” The coach, however, said wing Breyton Paulse would definitely play.

“Breyton is not contracted (by the Boks) and we don’t have to rest him.”

Commenting on Saturday’s performance, Van der Merwe said: “Yes, it was a good win and the guys showed tremendous attitude. But we are very disappointed that we didn’t pick up a bonus point.

“We broke their defensive line on a number of occasions. We unfortunately missed golden opportunities to score more points, but we are just happy to take the points.”

Corné Uys seems likely to shift to centre in place of De Villiers, with Brent Russell slotting in at wing.