DHL Stormers injury report – 21/04/14

Both Kebble and Burger missed this past weekend’s 18-3 win over the Lions, but the loss of Cilliers and Catrakilis is a blow for the Cape side ahead of their away meeting with the Cheetahs on Saturday, April 26 (kick-off 17h05).

Frans Malherbe and Sailosi Tagicakibau sat out training today, whilst senior men Duane Vermeulen and Jean de Villiers did their flush-out in the morning and sat out the afternoon session.

Prop Malherbe, who was sick in bed at home, Vermeulen (No.8) and De Villiers (centre) are not in any doubt for the Cheetahs clash.

The full DHL Stormers injury report (21/04/14):

– Prop Kebble (knee) and flank Burger (quad) are available for selection after being sidelined this past week.
– Hooker Scarra Ntubeni (calf muscle) and wingers Kobus van Wyk (abductor muscle) and Cheslin Kolbe (knee) will be given one more training session to prove their fitness but Coetzee is “positive about all three players”.
– Prop Cilliers (right knee) saw a specialist on Monday morning and he has a meniscus tear. Coach Coetzee: “If Pat needs an operation he could be out of action for five/six weeks, but (at the moment) he’s definitely not available for this week.”
– Flyhalf Catrakilis (broken nose) will out for two weeks.
– Wing Tagicakibau (sternum) sat out training and will be given time to prove his fitness before the team is announced.

DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee told www.iamastormer.com: “There are a few positives (injury-wise), but – as a coach – you’re never happy with your injury list, you always want it to be as short as possible. Injuries are always challenging, but it’s part of the game and you need to make your plans accordingly.

“It would be the right thing to play Schalk (Burger) off the bench because he needs game-time to attain match fitness. He is pretty keen to play again because he understands the pain of sitting out.”

Looking back at the Lions game, ahead of this week’s trip to Bloemfontein, Coetzee added: “After reviewing the Lions game again this weekend, it was an encouraging performance. We know we’ve not achieved anything as yet, but we’re constantly striving to look better.

“We spoke about our discipline against the Lions, we know it wasn’t good, but we were not happy with our work at the breakdown – also looking at our body position and how we carried the ball into contact.”