After being crowned South African Conference winners last weekend, the DHL Stormers can still qualify in the Top 2 for the Super Rugby Finals Series, but they will need a couple of results to go their way.
The Capetonians will finish the regular season with a highly-anticipated derby against the Cell C Sharks in Durban on Saturday evening, by which time they will know if they still have a chance to make it to 2nd position.
The other match featuring South African teams this weekend is on Saturday afternoon, when the Vodacom Bulls host the Toyota Cheetahs in Pretoria. The Emirates Lions have a BYE this weekend.
After Saturday, 4 of the South African teams will have concluded their participation in Vodacom Super Rugby for the season, while the DHL Stormers will be getting ready to fly the Republic’s flag in the coming weeks.
The South African Conference winners are currently 3rd on the overall standings on 45 points, 2 adrift of the Waratahs and the Brumbies, 1 of which can still end up in 2nd spot.
For the DHL Stormers to take that coveted spot on the Log, behind the Hurricanes, the 2 Aussie teams have to lose their matches earlier on Saturday, and Allister Coetzee’s team will have to beat the Cell C Sharks.
If either the Waratahs or Brumbies beat the Reds or Crusaders respectively, the match in Durban effectively becomes a dead rubber in terms of final Log standings.
Vodacom Bulls vs Toyota Cheetahs:
- Date: Saturday 13 June at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT, Sunday 01:05 AEST, Sunday 03:05 NZ Time)
- Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
- Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
- Assistant Referees: Jason Jaftha (South Africa), Ben Crouse (South Africa)
- TMO: Willie Vos (South Africa)
Team news:
- The Vodacom Bulls have made 4 changes to their starting line-up, all of them in the pack as the backline remains unchanged for this match. Arno Botha, Grant Hattingh, Adriaan Strauss and Morné Mellett take over at flank (from Lappies Labuschange), lock (from Victor Matfield), hooker (from Callie Visagie) and loosehead prop (from Dean Greyling) respectively.
- There are 3 more changes on the bench, where Callie Visagie (hooker), Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (lock) and Roelof Smit (flank) have been included.
- The Toyota Cheetahs will travel to Pretoria with a new-look back trio, with Willie le Roux (fullback) and Clayton Blommetjies (wing) taking over from Coenie van Wyk and Cornal Hendricks respectively. Sergeal Petersen moves from right to left wing.
- In the pack, Henco Venter (flank) moves up from the bench, replacing Tienie Burger, while Oupa Mohoje (loose forward) is back from injury and will start on the bench.
- Van Wyk and Mohoje will be joined on the bench by scrumhalf Renier Botha, who replaces Shaun Venter and will make his Vodacom Super Rugby debut if he gets a run.
Stats:
- The Toyota Cheetahs will be looking for their 1st-ever Super Rugby victory in Pretoria, and only their 2nd-ever over the Vodacom Bulls.
- The last 2 times the Vodacom Bulls hosted the Toyota Cheetahs, they won by 6 and 5 points respectively.
- In fact, the men from Pretoria have beaten the visitors from Central South Africa by more than 7 points only 3 times, the biggest being in 2012, when they won 40 / 24.
- After losing their 1st 2 home matches of the season, the Vodacom Bulls have won their last 5 at Loftus Versfeld, while the Toyota Cheetahs have lost 5 of their last 6 on the road.
Quotes:
Vodacom Bulls head coach Frans Ludeke: “We would like to finish the tournament with a strong performance. We did not reach all the targets we have set for ourselves as a team, but I am proud of the way we have played at times during the season. Unfortunately our away-form again cost us.”
Vodacom Bulls captain Pierre Spies: “The Cheetahs team will have nothing to lose and will certainly attack from all angles, but we are also very keen to end our season on a high. We are back at Loftus Versfeld for a last time this season and would like to give the supporters something to cheer about. That said, there is no time for emotional goodbyes, as we will have to play for 80 minutes to make sure we get the right result.”
Teams:
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Francois Hougaard, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Pierre Spies (Captain), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Arno Botha, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Morné Mellett
Replacements: 16 Callie Visagie, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Nico Janse van Rensburg, 19 Roelof Smit, 20 Tian Schoeman, 21 Bjorn Basson, 22 Jurgen Visser, 23 Werner Kruger.
Toyota Cheetahs: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Clayton Blommetjies, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Niel Marais, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Boom Prinsloo, 5 Francois Uys (Captain), 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Maks van Dyk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 BG Uys
Replacements: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 19 Steven Sykes, 20 Gerhard Olivier, 21 Teboho Mohoje, 22 Renier Botha, 23 Coenie van Wyk.
Head to Head (since 2006):
- Played 14: Vodacom Bulls won 13, Toyota Cheetahs won 1
- Vodacom Bulls points scored: 472
- Toyota Cheetahs points scored: 300
- Vodacom Bulls tries scored: 54
- Toyota Cheetahs tries scored: 32
- Average score: 34 / 21 to the Vodacom Bulls
Cell C Sharks vs DHL Stormers:
- Date: Saturday 13 June at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT, Sunday 03:10 AEST, Sunday 05:10 NZ Time)
- Venue: Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban
- Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
- Assistant Referees: Quinton Immelman, Archie Sehlako
- TMO: Marius Jonker
Team news:
- The Cell C Sharks’ backline is unchanged, but there are 3 changes to the pack and 2 on the bench.
- Etienne Oosthuizen moves from flank to lock for this match, taking over from Mouritz Botha, while Springbok flanks Marcell Coetzee and Willem Alberts are back on the sides of the scrum.
- Khaya Majola (flank), who made his Super Rugby debut 2 weekends ago against the Melbourne Rebels, moves to the bench for Jean Deysel, where he is joined by Dale Chadwick (prop), who takes over from Matt Stevens.
- The DHL Stormers have made wholesale changes to their team for this clash in Durban – a total of 14 in the starting team, where the only player from last week to retain his place is No 8 Nizaam Carr, who also takes over the captaincy.
- There are 2 starters from last weekend on the bench on Saturday – Siya Kolisi (flank) and Seabelo Senatla (wing), while the entire bench from their draw against the Emirates Lions will start this weekend.
- Robert du Preez (fullback), Jan de Klerk (lock) and Godlen Masimla (scrumhalf) have never played at Super Rugby level before, while Michael Willemse (hooker) and Sikhumbuzo Notshe (flank) will be making their run-on debuts for the DHL Stormers.
Stats:
- Since Vodacom Super Rugby expanded in 2011, the DHL Stormers have won 2 of their 4 matches in Durban – but in this time the Cell C Sharks have outscored the Capetonians by 4 tries to 3.
- The Cell C Sharks hold a slight advantage over their Western Cape counterparts at Growthpoint Kings Park, having won 6 of their 11 clashes there and edging the DHL Stormers 20 / 19 when looking at the average score.
- After the 1st 4 encounters between the Cell C Sharks and the DHL Stormers in Durban (between 1998 and 2004) delivered 4 try-scoring bonus points (2 each), there has not been 1 occasion where neither team has scored 4 tries or more in their last 7 clashes in KwaZulu-Natal.
Quotes:
Cell C Sharks assistant coach Sean Everitt: “Before we played the Rebels, we had spoken about finishing on a good note and that remains our aim. It doesn’t matter where we are on the log, we want to play with pride because there is a lot of pride in the team and we want to finish on a high for the guys who might be playing last game in Sharks colours.
“We will prepare as normal, whether they bring their full metal jacket or not. Ultimately, we want to play our game and the focus for us is one making sure we do.
“We feel we have improved with each game since our tour opened on a bad note against the Highlanders; there has been regular improvement. We finished our overseas tour by beating the Reds and then we defeated the Rebels who are not an easy outfit. They have beaten big teams, including the Bulls at the weekend.”
DHL Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee: “We have a great opportunity here to give game time to some fringe players and to continue to increase the capacity within our squad. The Sharks are also saying goodbye to 3 big players, loyal servants, so we’re expecting a brutal clash and know we need to be up for this match – physically and mentally.”
Teams:
Cell C Sharks: 15 Lwazi Mvovo, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 S’bura Sithole, 10 Lionel Cronje, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Marco Wentzel (Captain), 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Lubabalo ‘Giant’ Mtyanda, 20 Khaya Majola, 21 Conrad Hoffmann, 22 Fred Zeilinga, 23 Heimar Williams.
DHL Stormers: 15 Robert du Preez, 14 Johnny Kotze, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Pat Howard, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Nizaam Carr (Captain), 7 Michael Rhodes, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Oli Kebble
Replacements: 16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Seabelo Senatla, 23 Kobus van Wyk.
Head to Head (since 1998):
- Played 23: Cell C Sharks won 11, DHL Stormers won 12
- Cell C Sharks points scored: 460
- DHL Stormers points scored: 481
- Cell C Sharks tries scored: 43
- DHL Stormers tries scored: 47
- Average score: 21 / 20 to the DHL Stormers
Other Fixtures:
Friday 12 June:
- Blues vs Highlanders – Auckland: 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:35 AEST, 07:35 GMT)
- Melbourne Rebels vs Western Force – Melbourne: 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 21:40 NZ Time, 09:40 GMT)
Saturday 13 June:
- Brumbies vs Crusaders – Canberra: 07:30 SA Time (15:30 AEST, 17:30 NZ Time, 05:30 GMT)
- Chiefs v Hurricanes – New Plymouth: 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:35 AEST, 07:35 GMT)
- Waratahs vs Reds – Sydney: 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 21:40 NZ Time, 09:40 GMT)
Bye:
Emirates Lions