Leyds just wants to play

The Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein has been somewhat of a graveyard for Dillyn Leyds in the past.

The Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein has been somewhat of a graveyard for Dillyn Leyds in the past, but watch out for this classy footballer in the Stormers’ clash against the Cheetahs on Saturday.

Leyds has had a tough time for Western Province and the Stormers in the last two years against the Cheetahs, but things seemed to turn around in 2015 when he scored a try in Super Rugby.

But he was unable to stop Rayno Benjamin from dotting down as he hesitated a bit when a grubber from Sergeal Petersen was hacked ahead by Benjamin, who beat Leyds to the ball and crashed over for a vital try in the 25-17 Cheetahs victory.

It was the third year in a row that the Stormers had gone down in Bloemfontein.

But the class of 2016 appear to be a different breed, with the buzzword under new coach Robbie Fleck being “Fearless”. That is how the skilful Leyds plays his rugby too. He made a big impression in 2015 as he established himself as the first-choice left wing, and he was the leading try-scorer at the Stormers with six.

While that was well behind No 1 scorer Waisake Naholo’s 13 tries, Leyds had his breakthrough season in Super Rugby after playing three games for the Western Force in 2014.

And having played at flyhalf for most of his school career, and fullback for the SA Under-20s when they won the Junior World Championship in 2012, he has been given a free role at the Stormers in 2016.

That was evident in the Jaguares warm-up match, when he popped up in the pivot position and put through a wonderful chip for Leolin Zas to score.

He didn’t have another proper opportunity to do that in last week’s 33-9 win over the Bulls, but has the licence to thrill. “I just enjoy being part of this team. We’re a great bunch of guys, and you just want to be on the field, experiencing victories like we did at the weekend,” Leyds said this week.

“For me personally, it’s not a matter of where I play, but wanting to be out there on the field. Fleckie and I chatted, even last year during Super Rugby, about giving me that role to just step in. But I know when to do that and not to overplay my hand there.

“So, it’s not a big deal for me about where I play. Just happy to be on the field and enjoying this special journey that we are taking on. Myself and Cheslin (Kolbe) both have that roaming role, just to get our hands on the ball. But we’ve get very good ball-players in Rob du Preez and Juan de Jongh on his inside channel to make the decisions.”

The Cheetahs thrive when it gets loose, and that often happens on the fast pitch of the Free State Stadium. Suddenly normally watertight defences such as that of the Stormers fall apart and Leyds said his team are aware of avoiding falling into the trap of getting involved in an “attacking shoot-out” with Franco Smith’s side on Saturday (5.10pm kickoff).

“They also want to play an expansive brand of rugby, and they’re known for it – a side that always go out with nothing to lose. They just want to play an exciting brand of rugby and just want to throw the ball around,” he said.

“So we will just try to… we had quite a good defensive effort at the weekend by not conceding any tries.”

But if they can avoid those defensive blunders that tend to derail them in Bloemfontein, there is no reason why the Stormers can’t end their three-match losing streak at the venue against an inexperienced Cheetahs outfit.

They have some serious firepower themselves in Leyds, Cheslin Kolbe, De Jongh and one of Kobus van Wyk or Zas (Van Wyk is battling with an ankle injury), while flyhalf Robert du Preez is also a strong ball-carrier and scored a well-taken try against the Bulls.

The Stormers pack also flexed their muscles in the second half against the Bulls, and will especially put the Cheetahs lineout under pressure.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@IndyCapeSport