Cape Town - “IT all starts up front” is one of the most overused clichés in rugby. But scrum domination could genuinely be the key to victory in Saturday’s crunch clash between the Bulls and the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld.
Back in the old days, it was always a case of the Bulls’ powerful pack trying to starve the Stormers’ silky backline of possession. But the Stormers forwards aren’t pushovers anymore, and have shown up their Bulls counterparts the past few seasons. In their last three Super Rugby meetings, the Cape side’s scrum has been their biggest weapon against their Pretoria rivals.
It started last year at Loftus when tighthead prop Vincent Koch announced himself to an international audience by demolishing the Bulls.
The return match at Newlands wasn’t as one-sided, but the Stormers did get a few scrum penalties in the second half to do the double.
The Stormers also dominated the Bulls’ pack in their first meeting of 2016. They didn’t give Nollis Marais’ men any sort of break at Newlands, with both of the front rows - the starting trio and those coming off the bench - putting the heat on every time the teams packed down.
But that was an early wake-up call for the Bulls, whose scrum has started to fire over the last month or so. It was only a matter of time for that to happen, because they have really good players in their front row.
Marcel van der Merwe, captain Adriaan Strauss and Lizo Gqoboka form a formidable front row, while Springbok prop Trevor Nyakane will bring some energy off the bench.
“I think they are doing well, and over the last few matches they have done well in the scrum. They put the Waratahs under a lot of pressure at the start of that match last week,” Stormers skipper and No 3 Frans Malherbe said.
“I won’t say they had a bad scrum, I think they have always been good. They have Springboks in the front row and we know it’s going to be a great test for us.”
Malherbe’s tussle with Bulls starlet Gqoboka is going to be a great one.
Former Kings loosehead prop Gqoboka is one of South Africa’s brightest talents and a player who loves to scrum. Malherbe, though, is regarded as one of the best tightheads in the world and won’t be giving the rookie an inch.
“I have scrummed against him in the past, especially when he was at the Kings,” he said. “I rate him very highly as a loosehead. He is very good and he has got a big future ahead of him.”
However, there is more at stake than just scrum supremacy, as this match could go along way in deciding who wins Africa Conference 1 and qualifies for the quarter-finals.
After the Stormers’ 17-all draw last week against the Sunwolves, they are only three points ahead of the Bulls.
So, Malherbe knows his team can’t head into the derby with the same lacklustre attitude. They want to make things right. “There isn’t a split between the players and the management. We all sat down, and we looked at the video of that game as a team. We are together in this thing,” he said.
“It’s for us important to bounce back. That match against the Sunwolves is done, and there is nothing we can do about it. We are looking ahead, and all our preparation was just about getting it right on Saturday against the Bulls.”
TEAMS FOR LOFTUS VERSFELD
Bulls: 15 SP Marais, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Lappies Labuschagne, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Lizo Gqoboka. Bench: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Pierre Schoeman, 19 Grant Hattingh, 20 Deon Stegmann, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Dries Swanepoel.
Stormers: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe (captain), 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Oli Kebble. Bench: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Rynhardt Elstadt, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Huw Jones.
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Kickoff: 7.15pm. TV: SS1
Weekend Argus