Champions Cup newcomers the Stormers will lack five regulars, including Springboks Frans Malherbe, Marvin Orie and Evan Roos, when they face "fearsome" Clermont in France on Saturday."When Clermont are at home and on fire, they are really fearsome," said Rugby World Cup-winning former Springboks coach Jake White, who spent several seasons in charge of Montpellier.White now coaches Bulls, who will host another French club, Challenge Cup title-holders Lyon, as South African sides debut in the premier European club competition.
Stormers and South Africa prop Steven Kitshoff agrees with White, telling AFP that "when I played for Bordeaux-Begles it (Clermont) was one of the toughest places to go".It will not help Stormers' hopes of success that, apart from prop Malherbe, lock Orie and No 8 Roos, they will also miss loose forwards Willie Engelbrecht and Nama Xaba through injury.Coach John Dobson, who guided the Cape Town outfit to the United Rugby Championship (URC) title last season, shrugged off the blows."Making our Champions Cup debut is a special occasion and we want to do justice to our talents," he said.Dobson can call on three forwards who toured Europe with South Africa last month - Kitshoff, lock Salmaan Moerat and flanker Deon Fourie.Out-of-favour Springbok hooker Joseph Dweba is also in a 26-man squad and knows what to expect in France having spent two seasons with Bordeaux.While Stormers' pack is depleted, they boast an exciting backline, including Damian Willemse, one of the finds of the 2022 Springbok season.
In the absence of injured flyhalf Handre Pollard, Willemse was the playmaker in narrow losses to Ireland and France and convincing victories over Italy and England.The 24-year-old can also play fullback,