It’s been a week of typical mind games as the Stormers and Sharks gear up for Friday night’s Super 12 match between the sides at Newlands.
Sharks coach Kevin Putt named a team without Springbok captain John Smit at hooker, while utility forward AJ Venter is not even in the 22-man squad.
The Stormers, however, were having none of it and the man they signed from the Sharks towards the end of last season, flank Luke Watson, perfectly summed up their suspicions.
”You have to take into consideration that Kevin Putt, for most of the time that he has been there, has always been the type of guy who puts forward one team and plays another on the weekend. He’s always full of games and little plans and ploys,” said Watson.
Smit, it is believed, is not yet fully match-fit after recovering from a hamstring injury, which means Skipper Badenhorst will start at hooker. The Sharks side will be led by number eight Jaco Gouws, who played for the Stormers last year.
The match is bound to be a passionately contested affair, pitting the Stormers’ silky skills against the Sharks’ more imposing physique.
It’s a rivalry that has simmered at provincial level for several years now and, apart from the opportunity to kick off the campaign on a positive note, these teams will find the notion of losing to one another appalling.
One definite positive development for South African rugby is the return of former Springbok flyhalf Butch James to the Sharks’ starting line-up.
James starred in last year’s Super 12, but missed the international season and Currie Cup with a torn knee ligament.
But he’s back and his presence will be a major boost for Putt’s side.
”People love to hate him, but the fact is that we are two completely different teams depending on whether he plays,” said Smit.
”When Butch plays you have a presence similar to that which Mark Andrews gives you. Even if Butch is not firing, he still adds value. There’s an aura about him and he has such an effect on other people.”
The Stormers’ main hope of neutralising James’s ability to dictate play with an educated boost and precision passing is to blunt the Sharks up front.
Fortunately for Gert Smal’s side, the Sharks look less imposing in their tight five than in previous years.
Nevertheless, it’s an area of the Stormers’ play that is always under scrutiny, though they have signed Springbok lock-cum-flank Gerrie Britz and tighthead prop Faan Rautenbach to boost them in the line-outs and scrums.
Britz, however, will have his work cut out as he vies for aerial superiority with Sharks lock Albert van den Berg.
It’s the team who gain supremacy in the set phases who will probably emerge the winners.
”What it boils down to is giving our backs quality ball,” said Britz. ”We have placed a massive emphasis on the first phases in our pre-season training.” — Sapa
Stormers: Werner Greeff, Breyton Paulse, Marius Joubert, De Wet Barry, Jean de Villiers, Gaffie du Toit, Neil de Kock (captain), Joe van Niekerk, Schalk Burger, Luke Watson, Gerrie Britz, Quinton Davids, Faan Rautenbach, Pieter Dixon, Eddie Andrews
Substitutes: Hanyani Shimange, Riaan Olckers, Rob Linde, Adri Badenhorst, Bolla Conradie, Gus Theron, Tiger Mangweni
Sharks: Brent Russell, Odwa Ndungane, Trevor Halstead, Gcobani Bobo, Dean Hall, Butch James, Craig Davidson, Jaco Gouws (captain), Braam Immelman, Jacques Botes, Albert van den Berg, Nico Breedt, BJ Botha, Skipper Badenhorst, Eduard Coetzee
Substitutes: John Smit, Danie Saayman, Charl van Rensburg, Solly Tyibilika, Ruan Pienaar, Rudi Keil, Jacques Schutte