The Stormers put a very powerful performance in on Friday night to beat Glasgow 32 - 7 and move up to 2nd on the overall URC log. Whilst Damian Willemse may have snatched up man of the match for his attacking prowess, Evan Roos achieved something a little more special with his performance.
Its been a couple of weeks since the Stormers hard man was glaringly overlooked for the 1st Springbok alignment camp, a move that left supporters bewildered. Make no mistake, there is plenty of competition in the loose trio area for the Boks he seemed to tick all the boxes and has been touted as the man to replace Vermeulen at the back of the scrum. The Bok coaches were at pains to point out that a player like Roos needs to keep banging the door down to get noticed, and Roos on Friday banged down everything in front of him.
Probably the young 8th mans best performance in a Stormers jersey, he was at the forefront of everything that went right for the Stormers on the night. Trailing at the break, the men from Cape Town came out firing in the second half to keep the Warriors scoreless and to secure the bonus point win, helping them to 2nd place. A win for Munster over local rivals Ulster later on in the evening then secured 2nd spot for Dobson's men who are now firmly in control of their destiny.
Springbok Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus stood up and took notice. Whilst he would be pleased with the performance of Bok stars such as Jantjies, Willemse and Kitshoff, it was Evan Roos who got him a twitter on the night. Posting to his account Erasmus was full of praise for the man.
"Well done Evan Roos, that's how you react to disappointment and make sure you can't be ignored."
The Springboks are set to host another alignment camp in the middle of May, mere weeks before the squad for the Welsh series will be announced and Roos is surely a shoe in now for selection. If he isn't included in the camp, one would have to imagine that hopes of him being selected for the incoming tour would all but vanish. His stats already show he is the form 8 in the competition and form should always be rewarded.
.I have never felt like Jasper Wiese who was used as Vermeulen's understudy in 2021 was the right fit for the job and truly believe that Roos is exactly the type of player the Boks need. Blooding him in 2022 is crucial for both succession planning and to make sure the player has some experience under his belt for when injury may strike one of the more senior players.
