Mike Greenaway
The struggling Stormers need all the help they can get as they continue to navigate a disappointing United Rugby Championship season into the even more demanding Champions Cup where they have already dropped a home game against Toulon.
On Saturday, they are at The Stoop, in the shadow of Twickenham, and they can expect zero mercy from a Harlequins team stocked with England internationals, including master flyhalf Marcus Smith and master motormouth Joe Marler, the England prop who scrums better than he speaks.
Stormers defence coach Norman Laker said from London that Springbok lock Salmaan Moerat is available for selection and that is a notable inclusion in the 27-man squad that left Cape Town on Monday.
Moerat, who last played a match in round five of the Rugby Championship in September following a knee injury, could come straight into the match-day 23 as the Stormers hope to turn around their season. The Capetonians were poor in losing to Toulon at the weekend in the Eastern Cape.
“It’s been a tough injury-wise the last couple of games for us,” Laker said. “But Salmaan is back and available for selection.
“He is a quality human being. He’s a good leader and means a lot to the team.”
Laker is confident of the next generation of talent at the Cape outfit making the step up on the European stage after serious injuries to key players such as Manie Libbok.
“At the moment we do have a lot of injuries, we can’t look away from it. It will take one or two youngsters to make it into a match-day 23 or just train with the team to make sure we have the numbers,” he said.
“One or two of them will get an opportunity to prove what they’ve shown us in the Currie Cup.”
Playmaker Jurie Matthee is likely to replace Libbok in the No 10 jersey.
Matthee kicked two conversions, three penalties, and a drop goal as the Stormers went down to the Leicester Tigers at Mattioli Welford Road in their Champions Cup opener last season.
Director of rugby John Dobson will name the lineup to face Quins on Friday afternoon but is known that Matthee will start at flyhalf
“Matthee is 100% fit, and yes, he has travelled with the team,” said Laker.