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The Stormers have lost Andries Bekker for the remainder of the Super 14 season after he broke a bone and tore a ligament in his toe.
The Stormers were looking for a replacement but at such short notice it is unlikely that they will be able to find a player who is not already under contract.
They had considered Ross Skeate but found that he is out of action with Toulon with a broken jaw
“We did think of bringing in Ross if he could be released from his commitments, but his jaw is broken so that settles that,” Stormers assistant coach Gary Gold told SuperSport.
While the Stormers considered further overseas options they decided to settle on using loose-forwards Francois Louw and Duane Vermeulen as cover for Bekker.
“Francois has played there and we believe Duane can play there. He certainly has the height and he has the weight. He is around the same size as Adriaan Fondse,” said Gold.
“Obviously losing Andries is not ideal, particularly in view of what he gives us in terms of explosiveness.
“He has become an important part of our attacking weaponry. But these things happen in rugby, particularly in this competition, and we are just going to have to make other plans.
“Apart from Duane and Francois, we also have Hilton Lobberts in the squad, and he can cover both lock and loose-forward. AJ Venter has come through well for us in the last few games, so while it might be a problem finding someone who can play No5 lock, we do have options.”
Bekker is an influential player in the Stormers squad, and it will be far more than his lofty presence in the line outs or his omnipresence on attack that will be missed, as he was also part of the leadership group.
“It does not look good for Andries. We are expecting him to be out for at least two months so we are unlikely to see him playing Super 14 rugby again this season.”
In other Stormers news according to Die Burger Erasmus has managed to get Toulon to release hooker Tiaan Liebenberg so that he can return to the Stormers.
Article courtesy of Rugbyweek
We did think of bringing in Ross if he could be released from his commitments, but his jaw is broken so that settles that,” Stormers assistant coach Gary Gold
Talking when he shoulda been listening? So someone shut it FOR him?
did I mention he’s in my Fantasy League squad?
@robdylan (Comment 2) :
Who? Ross Skeate?
Seeing as the guys who are trying to crash facebook with their stupid “forward this email or your account will be deleted” Have caught enough fools out there to almost crash facebook i will post my status on here.
Andre says: If you are the next person to be stupid enough to send me the facebook account deletion email please accept my apologies for the foul language in advance.
I think AJ should start the next game with Lobberts on the bench.
Go AJ!!!
@KSA Shark © (Comment 1) : Brilliant, let’s try to bring in a player whom we know nothing about currently, he is playing for Toulon, so he must be in tip top form, playing in Europe and all. We don’t even have to ask how well he is playing because we know. Oh what???? He is injured…broken jaw you say?
Please, how unprofessional is this, considering bringing in a player and they didn’t even know he was injured. Clearly they had no idea if he was even in form let alone injured. Very poor judgment on the part of the Stormers if you ask me.
@wpw (Comment 5) : I agree!!! Got AJ for most yellow cards this season so he needs to start playing
@Rahul (Comment 7) :
Hey dudette!!!
So you finally decided to make an appearance after last weekend’s terrible weekend.
At least KSA Shark could celebrate the Poms victory over the Frogs.
@wpw (Comment 8) : Awe Wes
@Charlie (Comment 9) :
Awe my broe!!! Wat sé die ou???
Gatslag. Bekker will be missed, that just may leave a gap in the backline but AJ impressed vs the Brutes and also cant wait to see the two Paarliete Schalk & Lobberts going into battle.
Need to change my FL selection…