John Dobson says young DHL Stormers hooker Andre-Hugo Venter will face a big test in his growth against the Sale Sharks’ wily Argentinian veteran Agustin Creevy on Saturday. DYLAN JACK reports.
Venter will get his first start in the Champions Cup when the DHL Stormers host Sale in the third-round clash in Cape Town.
The 22-year-old has had to play second fiddle to both Joseph Dweba and JJ Kotze for most of his Stormers career, but his excellent performances as an impact player have earned him a start in the crucial match.
However, Venter will face Creevy, Argentina’s centurion hooker, in what Dobson called a ‘master against apprentice’ match-up.
“Creevy has massive respect worldwide. One of the things we talked about was how powerful he was in the scrum,” Dobson said.
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“We thought they would start with Luke Cowan-Dickie and it would be Andre-Hugo against Creevy later in the game. Now it’s going to start earlier, when all the props are fresh.
“One area we’ve been very keen to develop in Andre-Hugo has been his scrumming. So it is a bit of master against apprentice. It’s fantastic for Andre’s growth. It’s going to be a challenge for us tomorrow, to face someone of Creevy’s experience, guile and physicality.”
Dobson expressed full confidence in Venter’s ability to handle the pressure, saying he has been impressed by the youngster’s maturity over the past couple of years.
“Andre-Hugo’s lineout work is better than it was. So we aren’t too concerned about that. Any young hooker just doesn’t have the body of work behind them. But he’s been great.
“He has grown as a player so much in his maturity and how he wants to get better. He’s done his extras like throwing. He’s always had the X factor. We all remember that from when he played for SA U20 a couple of years ago. The missing piece in that has been his scrumming.”
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