The Stormers await news on injured hooker Joseph Dweba and No 8 Evan Roos, along with speedster Suleiman Hartzenberg ahead of Saturday’s Vodacom URC clash with Leinster.
They were hurt as the Stormers’ Champions Cup campaign ended in Paris on Saturday night after John Dobson’s charges went down 31-22 to Racing 92 at the La Defense Arena.
The Stormers travel to Dublin to face Irish giants Leinster in round 10 of the URC, but Dweba, Roos and Hartzenberg are all in doubt for the Aviva Stadium encounter.
Dweba hobbled off early on against Racing while fellow Bok Roos and Hartzenberg took knocks in the second half.
“We’re going to have to check on Joseph, it looks like just a stinger, Suleiman Hartzenberg potentially has a fractured hand, and Evan Roos has done something serious to his cheekbone,” Dobson was quoted post-match in the media.
“They’ll be checked on the X-ray, but we’re looking forward to next week. It’s nice to know that guys like [Leolin] Zas, Seabelo Senatla, Warrick Gelant, Manie Libbok, Deon Fourie and BJ Dixon will be fit next week.
“I just hope those scans from the other players give us a bit of good news.”
The Stormers could still have advanced to the second-tier EPCR Challenge Cup round of 16 in fifth place in Pool 4 but a victory for Sale Sharks on Sunday saw the Cape outfit finish last in the group, dashing their hopes of a third consecutive appearance in the EPCR knockout stages.
On the road ahead for his troops following the disappointment in Paris, Dobson said: “There were lots to be proud of, we showed good fight. They were obviously loaded with some world class players, with nine, 10 or 13 internationals out there.
“We were light a couple of players, but we showed enormous fight. At 24-22 I thought we had every chance to win it. The way we stayed in the fight was very refreshing and the growth of some players we’re investing in or supporting, whether it’s Paul de Villiers, Jonny Roche or Jurie Matthee as a back-up 10.
“And guys like Andre-Hugo and Ruben van Heerden’s performances, those were good for us…”
“I thought Paul de Villiers was excellent, JD Schickerling covered ground as usual and we obviously had two veterans in Frans [Malherbe] and Ali Vermaak,” he added. “The plan was hopefully to get some reward in the scrums, but we didn’t.
“It was a high-impact, fast, high-level game of rugby… extremely fast and extremely physical that will probably give us hope for the future.”
