The Stormers will be hoping to hammer home their dominance on the Africa 1 Conference table when they host the Sunwolves at Newlands on Saturday.
The home side made a terrific start to this year’s tournament by winning their first five matches but went off the boil after losing at home to the Lions.
The men from the Cape were in fine form against the Cheetahs last weekend, however, and claimed a 40-34 victory in a hard-fought derby in Bloemfontein.
The Sunwolves, by contrast, head into this clash with morale at a low after suffering a humiliating 94-7 defeat to the Lions in Johannesburg last weekend with their opponents outscoring them by 14 tries to one.
The Tokyo-based outfit have failed to score any points in the opening halves of their last two games, and have scored more than three points in the opening half of an away fixture in only one of their last five attempts.
Head coach Filo Tiatia fielded a weakened side against the Lions and with several of his first-choice players returning to the run-on side for this fixture, they should be more competitive.
The Stormers are undefeated in their three previous encounters with the Japanese squad – winning two and drawing one – including a 46-19 win in their only previous clash in South Africa.
They have won their last three games at home against teams from outside South Africa, their longest streak in such fixtures since a stretch of six straight wins from 2012 to 2013.
This will be the Stormers’ first home match since May 19 – when they beat the Blues – and head coach Robbie Fleck and his team are excited to be playing at Newlands again.
“It has been quite some time since we played in front of our fans at Newlands, so the players are determined to make the most of that,” he said.
“We want to make a step up in all areas of our game and lift the intensity as much as possible.”
The last time these teams met: The Stormers claimed a 44-31 victory in Singapore although they had to work hard as the Sunwolves were competitive for large periods and held a 31-20 lead midway through the second half. Ten tries were scored in all with the Stormers crossing six times through EW Viljoen, Rynhardt Elstadt, Wilco Louw, Dewaldt Duvenage, Bongi Mbonambi and Bjorn Basson. The Sunwolves impressed as an attacking force, with their try-scorers being Derek Carpenter (2), Shota Emi and Liaki Moli.
Players to watch: For the hosts, keep an eye on young back-row Juarno Augustus, who makes his Super Rugby debut this weekend. Augustus is a terrific ball carrier who is sure to keep the Sunwolves defenders busy once he gains momentum. He was one of the South Africa U20 team’s stars at last month’s Junior World Championship in Tbilisi and crossed the tryline in each of the team’s five matches and eventually finished the tournament with seven tries scored, which was the most by any player.
If the visitors want to be competitive, then much will depend on the performance of Yu Tamura. As the Sunwolves’ chief playmaker, there will be a huge responsibility on the Japan international’s shoulders but he is an experienced player who has the ability to bring out the best in those around him. His goalkicking will also be crucial if the Sunwolves want to stay in touch with their hosts.
Team news: Captain Siya Kolisi and vice-captain Eben Etzebeth have been included in the Stormers’ starting XV. Both Kolisi and Etzebeth were rested last week for the trip to Bloemfontein to face the Cheetahs, but will be back in action on home turf. Also back in the starting line-up this week is centre Damian de Allende, who forms a new midfield combination with EW Viljoen following injuries to Shaun Treeby and Juan de Jongh. Dillyn Leyds will start at full-back in place of the injured SP Marais, with Seabelo Senatla starting on the wing and the experienced Bjorn Basson on the replacements bench. With both Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Kobus van Dyk having suffered knee injuries during the week, World Rugby U20 Championship Player of the tournament Juarno Augustus will make his Stormers debut on the flank to join captain Kolisi and Nizaam Carr in the loose trio. Etzebeth links up with Pieter-Steph du Toit in the second row, with both Chris van Zyl and JD Schickerling included amongst the replacements. In the front row, Bongi Mbonambi starts at hooker alongside JC Janse van Rensburg and Frans Malherbe, with Ramone Samuels joining Steven Kitshoff and Wilco Louw on the replacements bench.
The Sunwolves have made nine changes to the side mauled by the Lions last weekend. In the back-line, Riaan Viljoen replaces Yasutaka Sasakura at full-back while Kotaro Matsushima comes in on the right wing for Takaaki Nakazuru and Yu Tamura slots in to the fly-half position in place of Jumpei Ogura who drops to the bench. Up front, Shuhei Matsuhasi and Malgene Ilaua are included in the flank positions at the expense of Shokei Kin and Yoshitaka Tokunaga. The injured Sam Wykes misses out to be replaced by Uwe Helu at lock. It’s a brand new front-row with Takuma Asahara (tighthead prop), Takeshi Hino (hooker) and Koki Yamamoto (loosehead prop) coming in for Yasuo Yamaji, Atsushi Sakate and Masataka Mikami.
Form: The Stormers have won eight out 13 matches so far this season but have been very inconsistent of late. They lost all three of their matches on their New Zealand tour – against the Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes – but beat the Blues upon their return to South Africa. They were then beaten by the Sharks before the break for the June Tests but returned to the victory trail against the Cheetahs last weekend.
The Sunwolves are languishing at the bottom of the overall table with just one win from their 13 matches. That victory came against the Bulls in Tokyo in Round 7. In their last five matches, they suffered defeats to the Chiefs, Jaguares, Sharks, Cheetahs and Lions.
Prediction: The Stormers will take this one as they have far too much ammunition for their visitors in most facets of play. Stormers to win by between 20 and 30 points!
Previous results:
2017: Stormers won 44-31 in Singapore
2016: The teams drew 17-17 in Singapore
2016: Stormers won 46-19 in Cape Town
The teams:
Stormers: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Juarno Augustus, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 JD Schickerling, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 Dan Kriel, 23 Bjorn Basson
Sunwolves: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Ryohei Yamanaka, 12 Derek Carpenter, 11 Teruya Goto, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Keisuke Uchida, 8 Willem Britz (c), 7 Shuhei Matsuhashi, 6 Malgene Ilaua, 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Kotaro Yatabe, 3 Takuma Asahara, 2 Takeshi Hino, 1 Koki Yamamoto
Replacements: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Koo Jiwon, 19 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 20 Shokei Kin, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Jumpei Ogura
Date: Saturday, July 8
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 19:30 local (17:30 GMT)
Referee: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Shuhei Kubo (Japan), tba
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
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