Cape Town - The Stormers will have to beware the curse of complacency when they take on the Rebels in Melbourne on Saturday.
While coach Robbie Fleck was at pains to emphasise this week that the Rebels are “tough to beat at home”, the Australian outfit have an average 50 percent win record at their AAMI Park ground this season after six matches.
They went down to the Highlanders, Hurricanes and Brumbies, and beat the Reds, Cheetahs and Force. They have exactly the same record away from home as well, with six wins in total after 12 games to be in third position in the Australian conference.
But perhaps Fleck is stung by the Stormers’ 2013 reverse in Melbourne, when they lost 30-21 after a controversial penalty try in the second half was awarded to the home side, and the Cape team became the first South African franchise to lose to the Rebels.
They exacted revenge in 2015 when they won 31-15 at Newlands, and have clinched three victories out of four games against Tony McGahan’s team. However, Fleck won’t have to be reminded of the absolute nightmare they endured in Singapore when they drew 17-17 against a Sunwolves side that had been beaten 40-22 by the Force in Tokyo a week earlier.
The Stormers went on to lose to the Bulls at Loftus the following week before holding off the Cheetahs at Newlands in their last game.
The Sunwolves would’ve been viewed as easy-beats after the Cheetahs thrashed them 92-17 in Bloemfontein in mid-April, and the Rebels’ match-23 is not the strongest on paper, with several new players who would be unknown to South Africans.
But there are still a few battle-hardened Super Rugby pros around such as fullback Mike Harris, flank Sean McMahon, locks Lopeti Timani and Luke Jones, and front-rowers Toby Smith and James Hanson.
Fleck will hope that his big names such as Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit, along with Siya Kolisi and Damian de Allende must set the tone despite coming off a tough Test series against Ireland, along with captain Schalk Burger.
“We are excited to get the Springboks back. They are good, but had quite a tough series, to be honest – emotionally, mentally and physically they took a bit of a battering, and they had to really dig deep to win the series against a decent Irish side,” Fleck said.
“They now know what it is like to play at Test level again and it’s a good thing for us as they will lift the intensity and focus a bit. They know what it takes to win at Test level, so we’ve got a bit of momentum on our side in terms of eight guys playing international rugby.
“They needed a break when they came back, which is why they didn’t train on Monday. But their focus was immediately there on Tuesday. We had a makeshift squad and trained with limited numbers, and the break allowed us to review our game and work with the guys we did have and put some new, exciting plans in place.”
De Allende will want to put in a strong performance after a mixed time of it for the Boks if he hopes to continue in the No 12 jersey in the Rugby Championship, while Burger should be full of energy after a four-week break with an ankle injury.
Hooker Bongi Mbonambi got his first Test cap in the last two minutes against Ireland in Port Elizabeth, and will be determined to prove his worth to push for more Bok game time in future.
Fleck’s decision to use six forwards on the bench is likely to result in Etzebeth and Du Toit playing just the first half following their Bok exploits, with Rynhardt Elstadt and JD Schickerling likely to come on at halftime.
In the backline, Jaco Taute will have to repay the faith Fleck has shown in him in his return to Super Rugby this year, and Daniel du Plessis would want to build on a rather quiet debut against the Cheetahs, despite scoring a well-taken try on the day.
But while the Stormers are unlikely to hit their straps immediately on Saturday (11.45am kickoff), they will have to make sure that they can grind out a win to maintain top spot in Africa Conference 1 ahead of the Bulls.
Rebels:15 Mike Harris, 14 Jonah Placid, 13 Sefanaia Naivalu, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Tom English, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Colby Faingaa, 7 Sean McMahon (captain), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Lopeti Timani, 4 Luke Jones, 3 Toby Smith, 2 James Hanson, 1 Cruze Ah-Nau.
Bench: 16 Pat Leafa, 17 Tom Moloney, 18 Laurie Weeks, 19 Culum Retallick, 20 Adam Thomson, 21 Mick Snowden, 22 Mitch Inman, 23 Paul Asquith.
Stormers:15 Jaco Taute, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Daniel du Plessis, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Schalk Burger (captain), 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Oli Kebble.
Bench: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 JP Smith, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22 Louis Schreuder, 23 Scott van Breda.