VIDEO: The real value of Dan du Plessis' return

SPOTLIGHT: Head coach John Dobson has described centre Dan du Plessis as a vital cog in the Stormers machine.

After battling a serious quad injury, the midfielder will make his first appearance of the season in Saturday's United Rugby Championship derby against the Sharks at Cape Town Stadium.

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"He is a big part of our team. Besides a few others like  Damian [Willemse], he is probably the most important player in the team with the way he brings leadership and the way plays," Dobson explained.

"We haven’t had him for one minute of this URC yet, so to have him fit and well-conditioned is fantastic."

Dobson revealed that Du Plessis' time on the field on Saturday will be managed.

"Dan's medical advice was 60 minutes and that is probably where we are a little short in the squad.

"Dan definitely is coming off. We can cover that with the move we did last week with Ruhan [Nel] going into No.12 and Suleiman [Hartzenberg] going into No.13.

"Manie [Libbok] at fullback wouldn’t be ideal. He has played there but he is our first-choice No.10 and Jurie [Matthee] has played a few games in training at No.15.

"I wouldn’t say we are ideally covered in terms of backs. We can handle it, but it is not ideal given that we know Dan is coming off."

Meanwhile, Dobson also explained why Warrick Gelant was not considered for selection for Saturday's match.

"He was cleared on Tuesday, but the risk is six to eight weeks if the groin goes completely. So, we would rather make 100 percent sure given that we got a week off next week.

"The axis of Dan and Damian is pretty exciting.

"The short answer is that Warrick is not fit."