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Brendon Pauls supported Seabelo Senatla in the effort to revive the Stormers acrobatic trick
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Brendon Pauls supported Seabelo Senatla in the effort to revive the Stormers acrobatic trick

Former Stormers winger and Springbok national team player Brendon Pauls endorsed Seabelo Senatla's move after he performed a backflip while celebrating the first touchdown in the 'Men in Black' team's new kit in Saturday's match against the Sharks.

Pauls, who wore the black number 14 jersey in the late 1990s and early 2000s, is associated with the flick-flack celebration, and Senatla now appears to be aiming to revive this past acrobatics.

Similar to how Pauls did it in Newlands, the speedy player crossed the touchdown line in the right corner of the DHL Stadium, pushed off after being lifted, and executed a backflip despite having bandages on both knees. This moment evoked nostalgic memories, and according to Pauls, he got goosebumps when he saw Senatla do it.

Pauls wants the celebration to continue

However, he now urged the former Blitzbok star to continue using this celebration every time he scores. Pauls told IOL Sport: 'I was commenting in Afrikaans during the game, and I was very surprised when he did the flick-flack.' He continued: 'We spoke earlier at the presentation of the new Stormers home and away kits, and I told him it was high time someone did a backflip again. Usually, he used to do front flips when scoring in the corner. But then he approached for the flick-flack; I didn't know he could do that.'

He added: 'But it was something wonderful, and it immediately went viral. And fittingly, he also wore number 14 on his back, scored the first touchdown in the new black kit in the first match, and did a backflip. It was truly special.' Pauls noted that the Stormers also did a great job by gathering about 50 former Stormers players for this match against the Sharks, and it was wonderful to meet his former teammates and their families.

He spoke with Pieter Roosouw, another winger for the team, and captain Corne Krige. According to him, the players liked how captain Ruan Nel brought his team onto the field and the magnificent rugby that the Stormers displayed in the coastal derby. 'This is the kind of rugby that our Cape Town fans come to watch. It was a superb start to a new era in the away kit, and it was good to see the 'Men in Black' playing again.'

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John Dobson supports Warwick Gelant despite Stormers' selection against Sharks
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iol.co.za

John Dobson supports Warwick Gelant despite Stormers' selection against Sharks

Stormers rugby team director John Dobson stated that the team maintains full confidence in playmaker Warwick Gelant's abilities, even though the attacker was not included in the squad for Saturday's match against Sharks.

According to John Dobson, selecting the defensive line for Saturday's derby was relatively straightforward, as it included all Springboks players except for injured Cheslin Kolbe, and Warwick Gelant was excluded from the match roster.

Damian Willemse will take position No. 15 instead of Gelant, who was not on the match day squad, as Stormers prepare for their first home game in the United Rugby Championship (URC) against Sharks on Saturday afternoon.

Over 30,000 tickets have been sold for this coastal derby, which will take place at the DHL stadium. Stormers aim to return to winning ways after their defeat in the second match against Edinburgh last week. They previously started their URC campaign with a bonus-point win over Connacht.

Maintaining Support for Gelant

The head coach noted that he is aware of the unpopularity of his decision not to include Warwick Gelant, adding that if Gelant were playing at fullback and Damian at No. 12, it could cause strong criticism.

He explained that while they highly value Warwick, he is one of the world's best players. Since Jonathan Roux performed well in the last two matches, the management decided to focus on building team cohesion. Dobson clarified that the most difficult issues were assembling the bench and determining the starting positions of the props, whereas selecting the defensive line players was very simple.

Nevertheless, Dobson emphasized that he still strongly believes in Gelant. The coach believes that fans will see a better performance from Gelant compared to last season. He is also aware of the public opinion that coaches might favor the 2019 World Cup winner.

However, his contribution to the team in the absence of Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Willemse is invaluable for the debut URC winners.

Dobson explained that they did not bring in J C Mars. He mentioned that Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) and Damian are options at No. 15, but when they are in the Springboks squad, they need a player capable of delivering results. Although Warwick made some errors, he improved his physical condition in the pre-season. He admitted that Gelant made mistakes against Connacht but believes that people do not understand his positional play, game understanding, communication skills, and fighting ability—these are the subtle aspects where he performed well.

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