The prospect of being in the running for silverware behind a powerful pack is what prompted Raymond Rhule to head for the DHL Stormers once it became clear the Cheetahs were no longer going to be part of Super Rugby.
Rhule played with many of the Stormers players when he was first choice wing for the Boks for much of last year, and he says that the prospect of having some of those big men playing in front of him and presenting him with ball to play with made his move to the Cape a no brainer once it was put on the table.
“I took on the attitude that if you want to be the best you must play with best,” said Rhule as he looked ahead towards his first outing at Newlands as a home player at franchise level this weekend. He is expected to be part of the Stormers team that will face the Jaguares in a crucial opening Super Rugby game before they head overseas the next day.
“I would like to be part of a team that wins Super Rugby, and I think the Stormers, with their pack, can do that. Of course, the Cheetahs were kicked out of Super Rugby so if I wanted to continue playing in the competition, I had to look for somewhere else to play. I looked at how dominant the Stormers pack can be. For a backline player it would be a dream come true to be playing behind a Stormers pack that is going forward.”
Rhule said he had been welcomed with open arms by his new teammates and hinted that the professionalism of the environment and attention to detail is what might differ from his previous team.
“The professionalism is very strong here. There is a lot more hard work and focus put on aspects like defence. There is a lot of attention to detail and a heck of a lot of hard work that goes into it,” said Rhule.
The wing has had problems with his defence in the past and an upskilling in that area might be just what he needs if he wants to challenge for the Springbok place that he lost towards the end of 2017. He says though that he is just focusing on the new challenge of playing for the Stormers and is not thinking about what happened last season.
“This is a new year for me and a new beginning. What is in the past is in the past. It is a new year and for me a new mindset. My first objective is just to make the Stormers team. I feel like being here has already made me a better player, being exposed to someone like Paul Feeney (the Stormers’ Kiwi assistant coach charged with the task of coaching skills). He has given me a lot of things to think about. It is going to be a great challenge for me this year.”
Rhule may face a bit of competition for his place on the wing. Blitzbok star Seabelo Senatla is back from doing duty on the Sevens circuit and is committed to giving it a full go in the conventional code this year, while Dillyn Leyds is also a Springbok wing and so is Sergeal Petersen, who joined Rhule in moving down to Cape Town from the Cheetahs.
Leyds will start at fullback against the Jaguares because of the early season injury concern to SP Marais, but Marais is likely to be the first choice No 15 once he is available, which will mean Leyds moves back to the group challenging to play on the wing. That group could also include another Bok in the form of JJ Engelbrecht, who is back in the Cape after sojourning for a few seasons at the Bulls and in Japan.
Although Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has said he mainly considers Engelbrecht to be an outside centre, the presence of EW Viljoen in that position could just open the way for Engelbrecht to return to the position where he first made his name for Western Province at age-group and Currie Cup level. The Stormers have long looked vulnerable out wide from a size viewpoint and Engelbrecht could solve that problem.
SUPERSPORTS
Comments
Post a Comment