Heavyweight clashes divide opinion. Too often in the ring you’ll see two giants lumbering around prodding each other like a couple of sexually frustrated silverback gorillas, whilst at light or middle-weight levels you’ll see a couple of fighters dancing and weaving about the ring, attacking with speed and precision, enthralling the crowd. But once in a while, you get a real rumble in the jungle, the kind of fight which keeps the heavyweight bouts at the top of the bill. Two powerhouses smashing seven bells out of each other with unbelievable force and a ferocity that can’t be matched– and we have the Battle of the Titans in the Sharks v the Stormers this weekend.
The Sharks got off to a solid start last weekend, putting
away a stubborn Cheetahs side, but they were outscored by 3 tries to 2 and
coach John Plumtree won’t be impressed with the way his side switched off and
let the home side back into a game they should have buried. At least they won though, which is more than
can be said for the Stormers – they were well under par last week and were
soundly beaten by a Bulls side that doesn’t look too strong on paper, but
outplayed their illustrious opposition none the less. The key for the Stormers against the Sharks
will be precision – with the possession they enjoyed against the Bulls, they
should have been more clinical and accurate in maintaining it; it’s unlikely
they’ll get any more change out of this Sharks defence (assuming the home side
don’t have another concentration meltdown of course).
Last year these two sides were the best two in South Africa
by a decent stretch – the Stormers won the conference but it was the Sharks who
went all the way to the playoff final (beating the Stormers in the semi) before being stuffed by the Chiefs in New
Zealand. Matches between these two sides
are often staggeringly close – they’ve played each other 18 times and won 9
each, with an average score of 22 – 20 in favour of the Stormers. The Sharks, though, are on a 2 game winning
run against their opposition and will be confident that the Durban factor will
kick in and help them take the game home.
Sharks Team News
Sharks coach John Plumtree has made one change, with big
carrying Jean Deysel coming in for Jacques Botes, who drops down to the bench.
Starting Line up: Ludik;
Pietersen, Jordaan, Steyn (C), Mvovo; Lambie , Reinach; Kankowski , Deysel, Coetzee;
van der Merwe , Bresler; du Plessis, Burden , Mtawarira
Subs: Cooper,
Herbst, du Toit , Botes, McLeod, Bosman , Ndungane
Key Player
Ryan Kankowski. The
talented number 8 has always been a class act for the Sharks, with his supreme
speed and athleticism marking him out as a serious attacking weapon. But in the likely slugfest which will ensue
against the Stormers, the home side will want to see him take it back to basics
and make sure he wins his collisions and gets to the breakdown quickly to
secure possession. The Sharks can’t
afford to hand the ball over to this Stormers backline.
Stomers Team News
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee has made two changes to the
starting line up while Grant comes in on the bench after completing his
Japanese club commitments. Fullback Joe
Pietersen and tighthead prop Frans Malherbe come into the starting line-up from
the side that went down 25-17 to the Bulls last Friday.
Starting Line up: Pietersen;
Aplon, de Villiers (C), de Allende, Habana; Jantjies, Groom; Vermeulen, Elstadt,
Kolisi, Bekker, Steenkamp, Malherbe, Fourie, Kitshoff
Subs: Bezuidenhout, Cilliers, Armand, Carr, Schreuder, Grant, van
den Heever
Key Player
Elton Jantjies. The
fly half had a stinker last week, with his goal kicking radar completely off,
but he’s been given a show of faith by Allister Coetzee and so he’ll need to
repay it. It won’t just be his goal
kicking that’s under scrutiny – he’ll need to show far more poise and invention
when the Stormers get themselves into promising positions to be able to pull
the trigger and get through this Sharks defence.
Key Battle
Francois Steyn v Jean de Villiers. OK, so they’re not opposite numbers per se,
but they will be seeing a lot of each other.
As captains of both sides, the tactical battle they’ll wage will be
nearly as interesting as the physical one, with men powerful carriers with good
rugby brains. They’ll be wanting to
unsettle one another with some big hits early on to try and influence their
opposite’s decision-making process when it comes to the big calls they will
undoubtedly have to make later in the game.
Prediction
Not only are the Stormers on a losing run to the Sharks and were defeated in their opening game, I just don’t think this Stormers side looks as strong as it has in years gone by. Write the Stormers off at your peril, but I think this Sharks side look really good at the moment and they’ll be too strong in Durban. Sharks by 6.
Let’s see where the other action is taking place in this
week’s round of Super XV:
Blues v Crusaders: The blues grabbed a great win last week
and have another chance to cause an upset when the Crusaders come to
visit. Despite the Blues’ win, and the
fact that this is the Crusaders’ first game, I think we’ll see too much class
from the Canterbury outfit. Crusaders by
8.
Waratahs v Rebels: The Rebels are much improved this season
but so are the Waratahs. Their
performance against the Reds was filled with promise and they’ll be too strong
at home. Waratahs by 10.
Reds v Hurricanes: Hurricanes suffered a shock defeat last
week and it doesn’t get any easier when they head to Brisbane this
weekend. The Reds haven’t got out of
second gear yet but it’s only a matter of time.
Reds by 10.
Chiefs v Cheetahs: The Chiefs played the game of the weekend
(and an early candidate for game of the year) last round and showed some
stunning attacking fluency in the backline.
The Cheetahs impressed with their resilience and accuracy against the
Sharks but travelling to Waikato is never easy at the best of times, and the champs
will be too strong. Chiefs by 15.
Bulls v Western Force: The Force have had, as many predicted, a
bad start to the season, but few would have seen their defeat to Super XV
novices the Southern Kings coming. Confidence
will be at a low and it’s a long tour round South Africa, whilst the Bulls surprised
many last week by comfortably dispatching the Stormers. Bulls by 20.
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