Junior Boks star Yaqeen Ahmed to play for Stormers against All Blacks?

Evan Roos and André-Hugo Venter should also feature for the Stormers after being released by the Springboks and not featuring in the Currie Cup team. Junior Springbok and SA A star Yaqeen Ahmed could be in line to make his Stormers debut against none other than the All Blacks. The possibility arose after the Stormers announced their Currie Cup matchday 23 to face the Sharks in Cape Town on Saturday (kick-off 3pm). Junior Boks Markus Muller (who also featured for SA A in last month’s thrashing of Zimbabwe), Danie Kruger and Altus Rabie will all make their Currie Cup debuts in that match. However, because unions are preparing their Currie Cup and United Rugby Championship squads separately, with the URC sides to face the All Blacks in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, those Stormers players not selected for Saturday’s Currie Cup fixture are likely to feature against the New Zealanders next Friday. The scheduling also makes sense, with the Currie Cup side in action again just two days later, when they face the Cheetahs, and coaches will be wanting to retain team cohesion. Roos, Venter also on the cards Evan Roos and André-Hugo Venter should also feature against the All Blacks as the Springbok squad released them ahead of next weekend’s one-off Test against Argentina. Ruben van Heerden could also play, though he is on standby for the Boks. The Stormers will otherwise miss top players including Wilco Louw, Zach Porthen, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon, Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse. Veteran prop Oli Kebble is also out with a shoulder injury. Senior players Suleiman Hartzenberg and Stefan Ungerer could also miss out after being named in the Currie Cup team. Eyes will be on the young flyhalf, Ahmed, if he is selected. He shone in that SA A game, and was outstanding in South Africa’s U20 World Championship title defence. Stormers need turnaround in Currie Cup Meanwhile, Ungerer leads a Currie Cup side in need of a momentum shift after their 41-3 thrashing by Boland in Wellington. “One disappointing aspect was the collision battle. As defence coach, I’ll take full responsibility for that,” Stormers defence coach Pine Pienaar said of that game on Tuesday. “Sunday wasn’t a reflection of how good this side can be. A week earlier, against Griquas, we showed our collective physicality and our defensive system [winning 25-19]. “But against Boland, they moved the point of contact really well. The ball was too quick for us to get our spacing and our line speed right.” Centre Josh Boulle added that “it wasn’t the performance we wanted, but it’s a short turnaround, and now the focus is on the Sharks.”