The Stormers will be favourites to keep their unbeaten streak going in the URC when they host the Lions in Cape Town on Saturday, but there is an unexpected curveball both teams will have to contend with.
Cape Town Stadium hosted an international World Supercross GP event a week ago, and it’s left the multi-purpose pitch in a poor state, which has been raised as a real frustration by the Stormers themselves.
“There was a very visible drop when we got here on Wednesday,” Stormers coach John Dobson said. “You could feel the sigh of disappointment from the players when they saw it.
“Our game model is built around applying pressure,” he explained. “We want to scrum, we want to maul, and that often requires traction. If you take that away, you take away our ability to control the game in the way we want to.
“I understand the bigger picture – the stadium needs to generate revenue to exist. The staff here are fantastic and they go out of their way to make us feel welcome, but there’s got to be a better system.
“It’s got a chance to affect performance, the experience in the stadium and even how it looks on TV. This should be a showpiece game. You want the pitch to add to the spectacle, not take away from it.”
Whatever the case may be, the Stormers and Lions will hope to be able to produce a URC match that entertains what is expected to be a big crowd in Cape Town.
STORMERS V LIONS LIVE SCORING
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Vernon Matongo.
Replacements: 16 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adré Smith, 20 JD Schickerling, 21 Ben-Jason Dixon, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Suleiman Hartzenberg.
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Bronson Mills, 11 Eduan Keyter, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Ruan Venter, 6 Jarod Cairns, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 Darrien Landsberg, 21 Siba Qoma, 22 Nico Steyn, 23 Richard Kriel.
Referee: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
