HANDS v HART: Stormers’ Hartzenberg must stop Edinburgh’s giant winger
Stormers winger Suleiman Hartzenberg could be tasked with derailing Edinburgh stoomtrein Duhan van der Merwe when the two United Rugby Championship teams clash this Saturday at The Hive Stadium.
Hartzenberg, who scored his first try of the URC season in last week’s 36-5 win against Zebre, is expected to be named on the right wing when coach John Dobson names his team to tackle Edinburgh tomorrow.
And that could set up a mouthwatering clash with Van der Merwe, who Stormers defence coach Norman Laker reckons has a mean hand-off.
Former Junior Springbok Van der Merwe, 29, is Scotland’s leading try-scorer and missed last weekend’s 55-21 defeat to the Lions following a late injury setback.
But the bulldozer is expected to be back to face the Stormers this weekend, with Laker warning his charges of the 1.93m tall, 106kg giant: “Look, he’s a quality rugby player. I was involved with the SA U20s when he was there.
“He’s a strong ball-carrier and he has a mean hand-off and he is quite quick as well.
“The Scottish [national] team use him around their key game breakers and I don’t think it’s any different [when he is] playing for Edinburgh…”
The 21-year-old Hartzenberg is ook nie klein nie, standing 1.86m tall in his socks and tipping the scale at 91kg.
And after also playing for the Junior Springboks and training with the Springboks earlier this year, he will be out to prove dat hy sy man kan staan against a player seen by many as one of the best outside backs in the world.