VIDEO: Stormers star's career in the balance

By Jan de Koning

Monday 18 Nov 2019

NEWS: The Stormers will have almost all of their stars available for the opening round of Super Rugby 2020.

They get their campaign underway when they host the Hurricanes at Newlands on February 1.

Coach John Dobson told a media briefing at the team's training base in Bellville that all but one the long-term injury concerns are something of the past.

The big worry is talented hooker Ramone Samuels, who has not played since he suffered an ankle injury during the team's pre-season loss to Montpellier in France in August 2018.

"The guy that we have grave concerns about is Ramone [Samuels]," Dobson said.

"He potentially has a career-threatening injury."

The coach described the situation as "very sad".

"There is a nerve that is not regenerating in his ankle," Dobson said, adding that a call about the 25-year-old's career will be made in February.

Samuels, the brother of Springbok Damian Willemse, was born in Somerset West and schooled at Paul Roos in Stellenbosch.

After playing for Western Province at age-group level, he moved to Johannesburg in 2014 - where he first played for their age-group teams and then played 20-odd matches for their senior team.

He returned to the Western Cape in 2017 and has featured in 40-odd matches for Western Province and the Stormers before the injury.