PREVIEW: It is do or die for the Stormers against the Bulls in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Capetonians are having their poorest United Rugby Championship season to date and come off back-to-back losses to Racing 92 (Champions Cup) and Leinster (URC), whilst the Bulls will be looking to claim a rare scalp in front of a sold-out Cape Town Stadium.
The hosts find themselves in 12th place on the URC table, nine points behind the Bulls and are desperate to get a positive result on Saturday to elevate them from the bottom half of the table.
The Stormers’ record at the Cape Town Stadium might serve as inspiration for the hosts where they have a strong winning record in the URC and Champions Cup.
The Bulls will hope to break the Cape Town curse and beat the Stormers in front of spectators (there were victories during the global pandemic with no fans in attendance) for the first time since 2011.
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Battle of the flyhalves
The Stormers are missing all three of their Bok playmakers in Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Manie Libbok – with the 24-year-old Jurie Matthee entrusted in the No.10 jersey.
Stormers attack coach Dawie Snyman gave his full backing behind Matthee and is confident in his ability to do what is required on the day.
“Anyone that’s in the Stormers squad is good enough to play for the team,” Snyman said.
“We train the same way, got the same mindset, but each guy will bring something different to the game.
“We will focus on a guy like Jurie’s [Mathee] strengths and what he brings to the game.
“And guys like Sazi [Sandi] and Wandi [Wandisile Simelane] that comes in, they’re allowed to play their game and what’s comfortable for them.
“We’re confident that we can play the way we want to play.”
Stormers captain Salmaan Moerat added: “Jurie Matthee is really a quality player.
“You can’t compare him with Manie [Libbok], but both of them bring their own qualities.
“Jurie is also very excited for this game, he’s fairly young still, so I’m pretty sure it’s a game he dreamt about playing since leaving school and starting his professional career.”
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Meanwhile, the Bulls revealed this week’s worst-kept secret by naming Springbok fullback Willie le Roux at flyhalf.
The 98-Test Bok has slotted in numerous times as first receiver at Test level and turned the game on its head at Ellis Park two weeks ago when he came off the bench as the replacement flyhalf.
Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White is confident that the Bok veteran can step up and pull the strings for the Bulls as he did against the Lions.
“I could go with those other two flyhalves, but he’s got 98 Tests and not forgetting he was a flyhalf, I know he’s played a lot of Tests at fullback,” White said.
“I remember him playing for Boland at flyhalf, so he’s very adaptive at going to No.10 anyway.
“In fact, his good games at No.15 is when he pushes the No.10 out of the way at Test level or at the Bulls where he plays flyhalf for most of the fixture anyway.
“I’m very comfortable that he’ll understand what we want to do, he’s got a very good feeling for the way we want to play on Saturday.
“I can always go back to Boeta [Chamberlain] coming on at flyhalf and moving him [Willie le Roux] back to fullback at the back end of the game if I feel that’s what’s needed.”
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Stormers captain Salmaan Moerat admitted that untimely injuries in key positions have hampered his team’s progress, but is excited for what the next player in line can deliver in their absence.
“We’ve been really unfortunate with injuries and the timing around it,” the latest Bok captain said.
“We’ve got about eight or nine players out at the moment and those are really key players for us.
“Neethas [Neethling Fouché] is going to be sorely missed, but in the same breath, a guy like Sazi [Sandi] is really hungry to play.
“He’s getting this opportunity and we all know the quality that he has. So I’m really excited to see what he can come up with.
“In saying that, the coaches have done really well nurturing the depth within the squad.”
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White has selected Test rookie Jan-Hendrik Wessels at loosehead prop and believes that it will be a huge test for him going up against the experienced Frans Malherbe
“It’s a massive test [for Jan-Hendrik Wessels], he’s scrummaging against Frans Malherbe.
“When I made that selection, I think sometimes people lift their eyebrows.
“But he’s played a Test match against Australia with Grobbies [Johan Grobbelaar] at hooker.
“The two of them have played at international level together, he’s played two matches with Grobbies, so I’m fairly confident.
“He’s grown as a player, he’s too good to leave sitting in the stands – the two hookers are playing well.
“And he’s played a lot at prop before anyway so it’s a massive challenge and opportunity for him as well.
“I’m fully confident and to have a bench like Gerhard Steenekamp, Nizaam [Carr], Akker [Van der Merwe] who all played Test rugby means that we can finish with three Springboks off the bench.
“One thing that I saw and was happy about against the Lions is that we finished with a strong bench and with some senior heads around.
“Those players at the back end of the game gave us great value.”
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Bok World Cup winner Canan Moodie will run out for his 50th Bulls match and White hopes for a specific good omen when he does it in his province of birth in front of his family and friends.
“It’s quite ironic, he started his first Bulls game in Cape Town as well,” the Bulls Director of Rugby said.
“Not that you can package or construct it like that, but it’s fantastic to think that his family is from here, he had his debut here.
“And we [Bulls] won that game so to get his 50th game in front of his family and all his loved ones close to him, hopefully the omen is he’ll get another win on his 50th game as well.”
White also weighed in on Libbok’s absence and had the highest praise for the absent Stormers general.
“You’re talking about a Springbok who has won a World Cup.
“Manie [Libbok] has never played badly against the Bulls.
He added: “I know how important Manie is, I know how well he plays with [Warrick] Gelant as well as Damian [Willemse] etc.
“But opportunity knocks for any player. If you think one is out that things will be different, that usually comes back to bite you.
“I remember Jurie Matthee playing really well against Leicester Tigers two years ago, so I’m sure he’ll want to take this opportunity and play as well as he can.”
See below for the teams and prediction!
Stormers v Bulls
(Cape Town Stadium, Green Point – Kick-off: 14.00; 12.00 GMT)
Prediction
@rugby365com: Bulls by two points
Teams
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Jonathan Roche, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Willie le Roux, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Reinhardt Ludwig, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Ruan Vermaak, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Sebastian de Klerk
Referee: Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Griffin Colby (South Africa), Sean Muller (South Africa)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
