Coach John Dobson has confirmed Hacjivah Dayimani’s return as the Stormers reset for the business end of the season.
The explosive loose forward is heading back to Cape Town after securing an early release from Racing 92.
Dayimani arrived in Paris in July 2024 on a two-season contract, but the Top 14 club confirmed his departure earlier this week, stating: “This decision, made for personal reasons, will allow the South African flanker to return to South Africa to be with his family.”
For Dobson, the timing could hardly be better.
“Yes, Hacjivah is coming back,” he told SportsBoom.co.za. “You won’t get a player of his quality out of his contract. We got really, really lucky that he was available to leave Paris. You can never get those players out of contract, it’s impossible.”
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After a 10-match winning start to the season, built on discipline and set-piece dominance, the Stormers momentum stalled in a heavy Investec Champions Cup defeat to Harlequins before back-to-back Vodacom URC losses to the Sharks.
“The two games against the Sharks were tough,” said Dobson. “We had set-piece dominance the whole season until that point. We probably weren’t prepared to find solutions to that, and it is a bit frustrating. The biggest frustrations were just the patterns of the same issues in both the Sharks games.”
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Discipline also slipped, while injuries have compounded the problem.
“When we got to the local derbies, we got blown out the water,” said Dobson. “We gave away 19 penalties in Durban.”
On the injuries, he added: “We got cleaned out in the backs from the start. If you take Dan du Plessis, Ruhan Nel, Seabelo Senatla and Suleiman Hartzenberg who were not available. Then in the pack Salman Moerat went, Ruben van Heerden went and Ruan Ackermann … it was across the board and it’s not an excuse. I think we weren’t prepared to adapt without them.”
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Dayimani’s return will ease the load in the back row, where Dobson admits the remaining options have been stretched.
“BJ Dixon can move into lock. Evan Roos, Paul de Villiers and BJ have been overplayed.”
The Stormers are next in action against the Lions at Ellis Park on 28 February.
Photo: Stormers
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