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How do you rate the Stormers' chances for 2011? Who would you like to see in the run on XV? Etc.
Apart from Grant still being in Japan and unavailable it seems as if the Stormers camp is in good shape and would expect to build on their success 2010; Apart from the loss of Willem de Waal, Joe Pietersen and rookie Conrad Hoffmann we have all the boys from last year ready and 1 year more experienced. Our squad is more settled and the inclusion of veterans Jean de Villiers and CJ van der Linde can only help with the prospects of a very long season of Super rugby. Back from long injury lay-off also is Conrad Jantjes along with Andries Bekker and Nick Koster to shore up depth in the forwards.
All in all I expect big things from the boys this year and can't wait for round 2 to start. Apart from the obvious disadvantage of missing the 1st round (coming in fresh where other teams have had 1 hard 'real' hit-out under the belt and having less rest time throughout the tourney) we actually have a decent enough draw with us playing in SA for the first half of the tourney and only travelling at a time when we should in all likelyhood have some momentum behind us. There aren't many more difficult teams to miss than the Waratahs and Hurricanes so that is a bnus as well, although those 2 along with the Reds are probably our main contenders for the play-off spots as I see the Crusaders, Bulls and Sharks as being more competitive than us.
With De Waal off and Grant unavailable this is the time for either Lionel Cronje or Gary van Aswegen to step up. Flyhalf is the only position where we don't have at least 2 experienced players covering a position (arguably Deon Fourie at hooker is also somewhat inexperienced though) so the tri-series against the Sharks and Lions will be very interesting in that regard.
I fell what we should concentrate on is winning both home and away games against the Lions and Cheetahs (easier said than done as we saw in the past CC) and all our home games (Crusaders especially will be tough). I can't see us winning at Loftus or Durban but feel we are a good shot in our Australasian leg where, for the most part, we face the 'lesser' of what Aus and Nz have to offer. We will need some luck too as we have a tough ask to qualify for the play-offs with the Bulls and Sharks in our conference but they should be giving us the same respect.
Apart from Grant still being in Japan and unavailable it seems as if the Stormers camp is in good shape and would expect to build on their success 2010; Apart from the loss of Willem de Waal, Joe Pietersen and rookie Conrad Hoffmann we have all the boys from last year ready and 1 year more experienced. Our squad is more settled and the inclusion of veterans Jean de Villiers and CJ van der Linde can only help with the prospects of a very long season of Super rugby. Back from long injury lay-off also is Conrad Jantjes along with Andries Bekker and Nick Koster to shore up depth in the forwards.
All in all I expect big things from the boys this year and can't wait for round 2 to start. Apart from the obvious disadvantage of missing the 1st round (coming in fresh where other teams have had 1 hard 'real' hit-out under the belt and having less rest time throughout the tourney) we actually have a decent enough draw with us playing in SA for the first half of the tourney and only travelling at a time when we should in all likelyhood have some momentum behind us. There aren't many more difficult teams to miss than the Waratahs and Hurricanes so that is a bnus as well, although those 2 along with the Reds are probably our main contenders for the play-off spots as I see the Crusaders, Bulls and Sharks as being more competitive than us.
With De Waal off and Grant unavailable this is the time for either Lionel Cronje or Gary van Aswegen to step up. Flyhalf is the only position where we don't have at least 2 experienced players covering a position (arguably Deon Fourie at hooker is also somewhat inexperienced though) so the tri-series against the Sharks and Lions will be very interesting in that regard.
I fell what we should concentrate on is winning both home and away games against the Lions and Cheetahs (easier said than done as we saw in the past CC) and all our home games (Crusaders especially will be tough). I can't see us winning at Loftus or Durban but feel we are a good shot in our Australasian leg where, for the most part, we face the 'lesser' of what Aus and Nz have to offer. We will need some luck too as we have a tough ask to qualify for the play-offs with the Bulls and Sharks in our conference but they should be giving us the same respect.