Lowly SA teams to salvage pride

IT has often been the case that the Cheetahs are fighting to avoid the Super Rugby wooden spoon when they meet the Stormers, but this weekend the same is true for the Cape side.

The Cheetahs and Stormers occupy 15th and 14th position on the standings respectively, with a meagre combined three victories in 17 matches this season.

So, in an odd way, the stakes are high in Bloemfontein as both teams attempt to salvage something from their derailed campaigns and individuals try to keep their Springbok ambitions alive.

While the Stormers remain a miserly team on defence, they somehow turn try-scoring into a rare occurrence with only 12 tries in eight matches this year.

To aid their try-scoring problems the Stormers will be boosted by the fact that the Cheetahs’ defence is as effective as a bath without a plug. The Free-Staters have conceded on average 36 points and four tries per game this season.

The last time the Stormers scored four tries in a match was against the Brumbies on March 23 last year. It was their only four-try bonus point in the past two-and-a-half seasons, or in their last 41 matches since the beginning of the 2012 season. As a consequence the Stormers score 15 points per match, which will not win too many games.

The Cheetahs can at least score tries, as six try-scoring bonus points and 22 tries in 2014 indicates. They especially score early in matches when they have touched down seven times in the opening quarter of games.