The Stormers will be out for revenge when they take on their traditional rivals the Bulls in what should be a thrilling clash at Newlands on Saturday.
These teams met in Pretoria earlier this year and the Bulls got the better of their traditional rivals in most facets of play before claiming a deserved 33-23 victory.
That result hurt the Stormers who will be highly motivated to beat their opponents as the men from the Cape are still winless away from their Newlands home base in 2018.
The Bulls will be looking to defeat the Stormers twice in a single campaign for the first time after picking up that win when these sides met in Round Seven earlier this season.
Such a victory will also consolidate the men from Pretoria’s position in the South African Conference. They are currently in joint second position, alongside the Jaguares, and a win over the Stormers – who are two points adrift in fourth place – will strengthen their position in the standings as the Buenos Aires-based outfit face a tricky assignment against the Chiefs in Rotorua this weekend.
Each of the Stormers’ last 10 games has been won by the home team on the day and Robbie Fleck’s team have won four games during that time.
Meanwhile, the Bulls have won their last two South African derbies away from home – the last time they won more was a three-game streak in 2013.
The last time the teams met: The Bulls got the better of the men from the Cape in Pretoria in Round Seven by claiming a deserved 33-23 victory. The Bulls outscored their visitors five tries to three with Adriaan Strauss grabbing a hat-trick and Johnny Kotze and Jesse Kriel also dotted down for the home side. Their other points came via the boot of Handre Pollard, who slotted four conversions. For the Stormers, Jan de Klerk, Damian de Allende and Siya Kolisi scored tries and Willemse also succeeded with two penalties and a conversion.
Players to watch:
For Stormers: There will be plenty of pressure on the Stormers forwards especially the likes of Pieter-Steph du Toit who, in the absence of fellow Springbok Eben Etzebeth, has stepped up as one of the team’s leaders. Du Toit will be expected to lead the men from the Cape’s charge at the lineouts but he is also adept in the loose with his prowess with ball in hand particularly impressive.
For Bulls: Despite losing the services of Pierre Schoeman to suspension, the Bulls have been able to call on Lizo Gqoboka who won the man-of-the-match award in last weekend’s narrow loss to the Highlanders at Loftus Versfeld. Gqoboka is the prototype of the modern day front-row and is a strong scrummager who is also a good ball carrier with an impressive skill-set. He dominated the scrums against the Highlanders and will be determined to continue where he left off in that game when he takes on Stormers hardman Wilco Louw, who is also a solid scrummager.
Team news: Captain Siya Kolisi will play his 100th Super Rugby game for the Stormers when he leads the team out in this match.
The match is set to be a double milestone celebration for the Stormers, with hooker Scarra Ntubeni in line to earn his 50th cap when he comes off the replacements bench.
The Stormers pack remains unchanged for the derby, while there are two positional changes in the starting backline with JJ Engelbrecht shifting to outside centre and Dillyn Leyds on the wing. As a result SP Marais comes in at full-back and Raymond Rhule is back on the wing.
There are two new faces on the replacements bench, with prop Frans Malherbe and fly-half Jean-Luc du Plessis both making their return following long-term injuries.
Meanwhile, Andre Warner will start at scrum-half for the Bulls in their crucial Super Rugby derby clash.
Cape Town-born Warner comes in for Ivan van Zyl, who will play off the bench. The half-back started the first four matches of the competition before picking up an injury and has made some solid contributions off the bench since, including a try against the Rebels two weeks ago.
Form: The Stormers have played 10 matches so far this season and have won all four of their home matches – against the Jaguares, Blues, Reds and Rebels. However, their remaining six matches were all on the road where they were on the losing side to the Bulls, in Pretoria in Round Seven, as well as the Waratahs, Crusaders, Highlanders, Lions and Sharks.
The Bulls made a good start to the season when they claimed a narrow home win against the Hurricanes but they lost their next match to the Lions, at the same venue. They then headed on their Australasian tour where they lost to the Reds, Chiefs and Crusaders but bounced back upon their return to South Africa when they beat the Stormers in the corresponding fixture, in Pretoria. After that, they beat the Sharks in Durban and the Rebels in Pretoria before suffering a narrow loss at home to the Highlanders last weekend.
Prediction: This is a difficult one to call as these sides are evenly matched. Home ground advantage will swing things in the Stormers’ favour, but only just. Stormers to win by three!
Previous results:
2018: Bulls won 33-23 in Pretoria
2017: Stormers won 41-33 in Pretoria
2017: Stormers won 37-24 in Cape Town
2016: Bulls won 17-13 in Pretoria
2016: Stormers won 33-9 in Cape Town
2015: Stormers won 15-13 in Cape Town
2015: Stormers won 29-17 in Pretoria
2014: Stormers won 16-0 in Cape Town
The teams:
Stormers: 15 SP Marais, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Chris van Zyl, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Seabelo Senatla
Bulls: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Johnny Kotze, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal (c), 11 Divan Rossouw/Travis Ismaiel, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 André Warner, 8 Thembelani Bholi/Marco van Staden, 7 Jason Jenkins/Thembelani Bholi, 6 Marco van Staden/Roelof Smit, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Frans van Wyk/Nqobisiwe Mxol, 18 Conrad van Vuuren, 19 Hendre Stassen/Roelof Smit, 20 Ivan van Zyl, 21 Manie Libbok, 22 Divan Rossouw/Travis Ismaiel, 23 TBC
Date: Saturday, May 5
Venue: Newlands
Kick-off: 15:05 local (13:05 GMT)
Referee: Glen Jackson
Assistant referees: Egon Seconds, Rasta Rasivhenge
TMO: Willie Vos
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