Fleck: Zas is a classic finisher
He’s got plenty of speed, and is a classical finisher. That’s how Stormers coach Robbie Fleck described new wing Leolin Zas.
|||Cape Town - He’s got plenty of speed, and is a classical finisher. That’s how Stormers coach Robbie Fleck described new wing Leolin Zas, who will make his first Super Rugby start against the Cheetahs on Saturday.
Zas was included at left wing on Thursday, with Dillyn Leyds moving over to the right in place of Kobus van Wyk in the only change to the Stormers starting line-up from the 33-9 victory over the Bulls at Newlands last week.
Van Wyk sustained a minor ankle injury and left the field in the second half against the Bulls, which Fleck said prevented him from training on Monday and Tuesday.
But Van Wyk took a full part in practice at Bellville on Thursday, and will be fit for next week’s clash against the Sharks at Newlands.
The 20-year-old Zas, who was part of the SA Under-20 team last year and also featured in Fleck’s title-winning Western Province Under-21 side in 2015, had a memorable first touch in Super Rugby when he skinned a Bulls defender in a one-on-one duel within the five-metre tramline near the touchline.
It was a classic piece of wing play, which eventually led to Eben Etzebeth’s try. And that is what Fleck is expecting to see in Bloemfontein in Saturday from the Hermanus High School product, who was born in Worcester and played Craven Week for Boland in 2013, and made the SA Schools side as an outside centre.
“I don’t want to build any players up or anything like that, but what I would like to see is much of the same (as against the Bulls). He is a young player who has come through our system, and he’s worked incredibly hard in the pre-season,” Fleck said on Thursday.
“There were some nice touches from him at the weekend, and hopefully he can deliver the same (against the Cheetahs).
“He is a good finisher. He is still a young kid and still has lots to learn, but he’s got plenty of speed and is a classic finisher. He is still in that developmental phase of his game, but he is showing maturity beyond his years in our pre-season. So he is going to get rewarded for that.”
Zas is a lean machine at 1.84m and 88kg, and is an equally strong ball-carrier and defender. He did well during his 18 minutes on the field in the Bulls game, and will hope to continue the good start when he is likely to come up against another former SA Under-20 star in Cheetahs right wing Sergeal Petersen on Saturday.
For the rest, Fleck decided to stick to the same formula, which sees Stormers co-captain Frans Malherbe coming off the bench, along with another Springbok in flank Siya Kolisi.
“It’s more sort of about continuity. The team did all right at the weekend, but it’s about getting Frans, Siya and Scarra (Ntubeni) back to full fitness (following pre-season niggles). The guys who started last week did well, and the bench finished strongly. But it’s all part of the process with them,” the coach said.
The referee for Saturday’s match in Bloemfontein is Craig Joubert, who also handled the Stormers-Bulls game last week, and kicks off at 5.10pm.
Stormers Team
15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Juan de Jongh (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Oli Kebble.
Bench: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Huw Jones
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