After missing a crucial kick in a recent North v South United Rugby Championship derby against the Vodacom Bulls, DHL Stormers utility back Clayton Blommetjies has been loaned to his old team, the Toyota Cheetahs.
Telecom Asia has it on good authority that Blommetjies has been practicing with his former team since last week and that a loan deal for him to play in Bloemfontein had been approved on Monday.
Free State-based radio station OFM also confirmed that Blommetjies will be playing at flyhalf for the Cheetahs when they face the Eastern Province Elephants in a SA Cup game on Saturday.
Dropped from the squad
Blommetjies fluffed a match-winning conversion in the Stormers' 32-33 loss to the Bulls at Cape Town Stadium on 8 February and has not been selected for coach John Dobson side for next three games.
After that loss to the Bulls in February, Dobson admitted that Blommetjies did not take his missed conversion well and was also upset at the fact that he was a late substitution in that game.
Ntubeni also on loan
However, Telecom Asia has also learned that financial constraints at the DHL Stormers is part of the reason why not only Blommetjies but hooker Scarra Ntubeni has also been loaned out, with the latter now at the HollywoodBets Sharks according to intimate sources.
A source tells Telecom Asia that the Stormers currently have a player salary debt that they are trying to bring down before the end of the season and that could also lead to some players being offloaded to other teams permanently.
Unsustainable salaries
In a recent interview with Netwerk24, Stormers CEO Johan le Roux also admitted that there will be a major focus on cost-cutting on the business side and rugby departments come the end of the 2024/25 season.
No redemption arc for Blommetjies
And that could mean that if Blommetjies gets cut, there will be no chance to redeem himself as the lost game against the Bulls might well have been his last in a Stormers jersey.
