The four South African teams will look to make up valuable ground on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log this weekend as they take the field with several games in hand against most of the overseas franchises. In a repeat of last week’s matches at alternate venues, the DHL Stormers will meet the Cell C Sharks in Cape Town at 17h05 today.
In Cape Town, the DHL Stormers will look to make the most of their first home game of the year after coming off a late draw and victory of their last two matches, and build momentum early on when they run onto the park against the Cell C Sharks at DHL Stadium.
But with the Cell C Sharks determined to hold onto the top spot in the South African Shield (they are currently in 10th position overall with 16 points after winning three matches), and the team coming off a last-minute draw last week, they will have their sights set on closing in on their closest rivals on the log in the next two weeks.
With both teams showing flashes of good form this year, the match could prove to be another nail-biting affair.
However, the Stormers would bank on the dry conditions and expected 30° to give them the edge on the attack as Warrick Gelant starts and has proved to be the spark that the backline of the Stormers lacks.
A miracle called Brok Harris will also give the Stormers the stability upfront to stop early dominance by the Sharks.
The injury to influential centre Ben Tapuai could also play in the hands of the hopes of the Stormers.
Unfortunately, I do not think the Sharks will let their discipline slip as they did in Durban, and if they can build up an early lead they could just do what the pundits are betting on.
Prop Brok Harris will run out first at DHL Stadium on Saturday as he brings up 100 games for the DHL Stormers in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship encounter with the Cell C Sharks.
Harris starts at tighthead prop in one of two changes to the starting line-up for the coastal clash.
Having made his DHL Stormers debut back in 2007, Harris played 93 Vodacom Super Rugby games and also brought up a century of DHL Western Province caps, before leaving to join the Dragons in 2015.
Having played over 100 games for the Welsh side, Harris returned to South Africa and got involved as a scrum consultant with the DHL Stormers before being used as injury cover for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship campaign. He has played on both sides of the scrum for the DHL Stormers this season and will line up alongside captain Steven Kitshoff and hooker Scarra Ntubeni in a front row which boasts almost 300 DHL Stormers caps between them.
The only other change to the DHL Stormers starting line-up sees Warrick Gelant start at fullback, with Damian Willemse one of two backs on the replacements bench this week.
Utility forward Ben-Jason Dixon returns from injury and will make his first Vodacom United Rugby Championship appearance when he takes the field.
DHL Stormers Head Coach John Dobson paid tribute to Harris, who has always gone above and beyond the call of duty for his team.
“We brought Brok in as a scrum consultant this season, hoping to benefit from his knowledge of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams and conditions. His performances on the pitch have been remarkable and there is nobody who deserves this milestone more than him,” he said.
Dobson added that he is looking forward to seeing the impact that Gelant and Willemse can make at DHL Stadium, having switched roles this week.
“Warrick was always going to start this game as per our plan and having someone like Damian on the bench affords us the luxury of an extra forward replacement. Both of them are in incredible form and will play vital roles on Saturday.
“After starting the year with two away games, the team is keen to get out there in front of our Faithful supporters at DHL Stadium and deliver a worthy performance at home,” he added.
Although the Cell C Sharks team selected to travel to Cape Town shows minimal changes, there is a new selection in the midfield that has been necessitated through injury to Ben Tapuai.
Following on from last week’s draw against the same opponents at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, head coach Sean Everitt has not tinkered too much with the team for the return leg.
The forward pack that dominated the Stormers at scrum time has been given an overwhelming thumbs up, while Everitt has swapped the jerseys of flyhalf and scrumhalf, with Jaden Hendrikse starting at nine and Argentine international Tito Bonilla at 10, with last week’s incumbents Grant Williams and Boeta Chamberlain playing off the bench.
With the injury to inside centre Ben Tapuai, captain Lukhanyo Am has shifted into his place with Jeremy Ward coming off the bench and into the starting line-up at outside centre.
This opens the door for Werner Kok to wear the number 23 jersey, with the final change seeing Reniel Hugo making way for Gerbrandt Grobler.
While there was a lot to enthuse about in the first leg clash with the Stormers last week, one concern was not closing out the victory when the Cell C Sharks held a decent lead.
This is not a structural issue but more about composure and bringing an element of ruthlessness to their game that Everitt will have outlined in the preparations to this match and exhorted his players to adopt this week.
Weather: 30° Celsius, partly cloudy with no rain expected and a moderated southerly wind.
Prediction: DHL Western Province by 7.
DHL Stormers: 15. Warrick Gelant, 14. Angelo Davids, 13. Ruhan Nel, 12. Dan du Plessis, 11. Seabelo Senatla, 10. Manie Libbok, 9. Herschel Jantjies, 8. Hacjivah Dayimani, 7. Ernst van Rhyn, 6. Deon Fourie, 5. Marvin Orie, 4. Adre Smith, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Siyabonga Ntubeni, 1. Steven Kitshoff (c). Replacements: 16. Andre-Hugo Venter, 17. Leon Lyons, 18. Sazi Sandi, 19. Ben-Jason Dixon, 20. Marcel Theunissen, 21. Nama Xaba, 22. Paul de Wet, 23. Damian Willemse.
Cell C Sharks: 15. Aphelele Fassi, 14. Sibusiso Nkosi, 13. Jeremy Ward, 12. Lukhanyo Am (c), 11. Makazole Mapimpi, 10. Tito Bonilla, 9. Jaden Hendrikse, 8. Phepsi Buthelezi, 7. Jeandre Labuschagne, 6. Siyamthanda Kolisi, 5. Hyron Andrews, 4. Ruben van Heerden, 3. Thomas du Toit, 2. Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1. Retshegofaditswe Nché. Replacements: 16. Kerron van Vuuren, 17. Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18. Khutha Mchunu, 19. Gerbrandt Grobler, 20. Henco Venter, 21. Grant Williams, 22. Boeta Chamberlain, 23. Werner Kok.