Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
More than log spots on offer at Newlands
Pride, contracts and Bok places up for grabs in derby
THE Cheetahs haven’t won a Super Rugby game at Newlands since former coach Rassie Erasmus moved south to the Cape in 2007, but they have their best chance since then to break the drought when they play the Stormers tonight.
There has been a role- reversal between the visitors and Stormers in a season where the Cape team, mainly because of injuries but also because of issues related to the game-plan, has struggled.
Whereas in past seasons the Stormers have gone to Bloemfontein late in the competition seeking wins that would boost their drive to top the conference and the log, this time it is the Cheetahs who go into the game with a play-off place up for grabs.
The Bulls have all but secured the conference trophy the Stormers have hogged during the two years the current format has been in existence, and which they first secured with a win over the Cheetahs in Bloem in the last league match of the 2011 season.
But the Cheetahs, who were disappointing last time out at home against the Bulls, still have an excellent chance of finishing in the top six, which will secure them a place in the extended play-off phase.
With the four guaranteed log points that come with a bye still to come – they have a possibly handy break in the last week of the round robin – the Cheetahs can virtually secure a top six spot with victory today.
They are currently placed fifth. So they come to Newlands with a lot more to play for than the hosts, who will be led today by Deon Fourie in the absence of the injured Jean de Villiers.
Given how undisrupted their season has been because of injury, which has enabled the sort of continuity in selection for Naka Drotske that his Stormers counterpart Allister Coetzee could only dream about, the Cheetahs may even start as slight favourites to win.
Apart from their settled combinations, they have players such as Willie le Roux who have benefited from the experience of playing international rugby over the past few weeks for the first time.
The tight five and loose-trio in particular look well settled and formidable, and the scrum, led by Coenie Oosthuizen, the impressive Adriaan Strauss and Lourens Adriaanse, will test a Stormers unit that ironically has gained in authority in the later stages of the season when the injury bug has hit the front-row.
But while the Cheetahs should be confident, they should also know the Stormers have a point to prove and are quite capable of upsetting their drive for a place in the play-offs.
Injuries have robbed the Stormers of much of the physical strength that has driven their relative success of the past few seasons, and Coetzee would not have anticipated at the start of the season that this juncture would be reached with his team missing Duane Vermeulen, Rynhardt Elstadt and Michael Rhodes all at the same time.
Plus of course back then he would have hoped to have Schalk Burger in the mix. Andries Bekker is missing too.
So the Stormers template has had to change a bit, but they were still defensively solid in beating the Reds, and will probably figure that the same gutsy commitment to the cause will give them a good chance of beating the Cheetahs too.
Tiaan Liebenberg’s return to the front row has certainly added some staunchness to the scrum.
The Stormers may be missing big blindside flankers – the tenacious but physically smaller Fourie leads the side from that position – but the return of Eben Etzebeth to the engine room has had the desired effect on the pack.
It’s one of the several reasons why the Cheetahs shouldn’t be coming to Newlands in the expectation of grabbing a free meal.
The scrum also has a score to settle with the Cheetahs, as it was off the last set-piece of the game that the Cheetahs were able to launch their bid for what was an unlikely last gasp victory in the first round match.
Burton Francis kicked a penalty to win it there, and the Stormers also lost to a last minute penalty in a pre-season friendly in February.
At the back, the influence of De Villiers will be missed at outside centre.
Juan de Jongh is a fine player, and his silky attacking skills should partially off-set the absence of the captain, but his smaller physical stature does leave the Stormers looking a little light at outside back.
Trying to match their Cheetahs counterparts in a running game might not be wise.
So the kick attack may be the big focus for the Stormers, and it will have to be pinpoint against a side with such fine counter-attackers. Here Elton Jantjies will have a big role to play.
There has been a lot of talk this week about individual Stormers players trying to impress in one-on-one battles with Bok incumbents, but there is also another series of individual examinations taking place as contract negotiations are about to get into full swing.
Jantjies has yet to dazzle Newlands for a full 80 minutes and this might be his chance to do so.
Is he staying put in the Cape next year, or will he head back to Joburg?
It seems undecided, but a big game for him might just make Stormers management more eager for him to stay. It would also halt the Cheetahs’ momentum in their drive for a play-off spot.