Cape Town – The Cell C Sharks, Emirates Lions and DHL Stormers will all be looking to return to winning ways in Round 13 Vodacom Super Rugby this weekend.
The KwaZulu-Natalians probably face the toughest task when they take on the table-topping Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday morning – a team they should know well. The Kiwis’ head coach Chris Boyd and assistant coach John Plumtree were involved with the Cell C Sharks previously, although it was in reversed roles.
Two matches are scheduled in South Africa on Saturday afternoon.
All-out attack will probably be the order of the day when the Emirates Lions host the fifth-placed Highlanders in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon, with both sides not shy to throw the ball around.
The DHL Stormers host the Australian Conference leading Brumbies in Cape Town – both these teams lost last week and will want to clinch a victory to keep them in the playoff race. A bonus-point victory will see the Capetonians move back to the top of the SA Conference.
The Vodacom Bulls and Toyota Cheetahs have byes this week. The team from Pretoria leave on their Australasian tour over the weekend.
The Vodacom Bulls tour squad is: Jesse Kriel, Bjorn Basson, JJ Engelbrecht, Travis Ismaiel, Jan Serfontein, Burger Odendaal, Handré Pollard, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Rudy Paige, Francois Hougaard, Andre Warner, Arno Botha, Jacques du Plessis, Pierre Spies, Deon Stegmann, Lappies Labuschagne, Victor Matfield, Grant Hattingh, Flip van der Merwe, Werner Kruger, Marcel van der Merwe, Trevor Nyakane, Dean Greyling, Morné Mellett, Adriaan Strauss, Callie Visagie, Jaco Visagie.
Hurricanes v Cell C Sharks
Date: Saturday, May 9
SA Time: 09h35
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Mike Lash (New Zealand)
Television match official: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)
Team news:
• The Cell C Sharks’ backline shows six changes from last week – Lwazi Mvovo is at fullback and S’bura Sithole at left wing, with Odwa Ndungane moving to the right wing.
• Frans Steyn is back inside centre, while Lionel Cronje and Stefan Ungerer will earn their first starts for the KwaZulu-Natalians, at flyhalf and scrumhalf respectively.
• Upfront, an injury to Willem Alberts means Renaldo Bothma is back at No 8, while Jannie du Plessis returns at tighthead prop for Lourens Adriaanse.
• The new faces on the bench are Adriaanse, Kyle Cooper and Andre Esterhuizen, who started at inside centre last week.
• Reggie Goodes, who is on the Hurricanes’ bench, is from Pretoria and represented the Blue Bulls at the Coca-Cola U13 Craven Week in 2004.
Stats:
• The Cell C Sharks have beaten the Hurricanes three times in New Zealand, but only once in Wellington (by 29-26 in 2010). Their other two away-victories against the ‘Canes were in New Plymouth (2004) and Palmerston North (1998), while they also drew in Wellington in 2008.
• With a winning percentage of 37%, the Cell C Sharks still boast the best record of any South African team in New Zealand – the DHL Stormers are second on 32.6%, followed by the Vodacom Bulls (16.7%), Emirates Lions (9.5%) and Toyota Cheetahs (9.1%).
• The Cell C Sharks are on a bit of a roll against the Hurricanes, having won five of their last seven encounters, which also includes the 13-13 draw in 2008. The ‘Canes’ only win during this time was in 2012 in Wellington, by 42-18.
Quotes:
Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby Gary Gold: “The Hurricanes are a team on an absolute high at the moment, their performance against the Crusaders was outstanding and this is probably going to be a big challenge for many of our players at this moment in time, with backs against the wall. We’re playing the best team in the competition, it’s going to be an unbelievable challenge, but one that’s going to make us grow as a group.
“From our point of view, we need to concentrate on the things we can do well, we know we have the ability to do well, even though we haven’t done it very often. But we’re a proud bunch of guys and this is an opportunity against the odds to step up to the plate.”
The teams are:
Hurricanes: Nehe Milner-Skudder, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith (captain), Ma’a Nonu, Matt Proctor, James Marshall, Chris Smylie, Victor Vito, Ardie Savea, Blade Thomson, James Broadhurst, Jeremy Thrush, Ben Franks, Motu Matu’u, Chris Eves. Replacements: Brayden Mitchell, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Reggie Goodes, Callum Gibbins, Brad Shields, Frae Wilson, Otere Black, Rey Lee-Lo.
Cell C Sharks: Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, JP Pietersen, Frans Steyn, S’bura Sithole, Lionel Cronje, Stefan Ungerer, Renaldo Bothma, Etienne Oosthuizen, Marcell Coetzee, Marco Wentzel (captain), Stephan Lewies, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: Franco Marais, Dale Chadwick, Lourens Adriaanse, Mouritz Botha, Kyle Cooper, Conrad Hoffmann, Andre Esterhuizen, Waylon Murray.
Hurricanes v Cell C Sharks (since 1998):
Played 16; Cell C Sharks won 8; lost 7; drawn 1
Cell C Sharks points scored: 404
Hurricanes points scored: 410
Cell C Sharks tries scored: 44
Hurricanes tries scored: 44
Average score: 26-25 to the Hurricanes
Emirates Lions v Highlanders
Date: Saturday, May 9
SA Time: 15h00
Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Rodney Boneparte (South Africa)
Television match official: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
Team news:
• The Emirates Lions have made two changes upfront – Schalk van der Merwe will start at loosehead and Robbie Coetzee, having made a full recovery this week, has been included at hooker. Armand van der Merwe and Jacques van Rooyen are on the bench.
• In the backline, Ross Cronje will start at scrumhalf and will link up with Marnitz Boshoff, who shifts to from fullback to flyhalf for this game.
• Courtnall Skosan returns at left wing, Andries Coetzee moves back to fullback and Alwyn Hollenbach will start at inside centre.
• Faf de Klerk, Elton Jantjies and Howard Mnisi are joined on the bench by Ruaan Lerm, who made his debut earlier in the season.
Stats:
• The Emirates Lions have trailed at half-time in seven of their last eight outings, but went on to win six of these games.
• The Highlanders have never beaten the Emirates Lions twice in a row but did win the last encounter between these sides by a single point in Dunedin a year ago, despite the visitors outscoring their hosts by four tries to three.
• The Highlanders have lost five of their last six Vodacom Super Rugby clashes in South Africa.
• The team from Otago’s last visit to Johannesburg, six years ago in 2009, ended in a 27-22 win for the Emirates Lions.
Quotes:
Emirates Lions head coach Johan Ackermann: “It’s great to be back at home with a 15h00 kick-off. The Highlanders game will be a nice challenge and I believe a lot of their players will make the All Blacks side.”
Emirates Lions captain Warren Whiteley: “We still want to improve in a lot of areas, such as the scrums and line-outs, where we’re not consistent enough. The way in which we start this weekend against the Highlanders will also be very important, because we didn’t get a good start last weekend against the Bulls.”
The teams are:
Emirates Lions: Andries Coetzee, Ruan Combrinck, Harold Vorster, Alwyn Hollenbach, Courtnall Skosan, Ross Cronje, Warren Whiteley (captain), Warwick Tecklenburg, Jaco Kriel, Franco Mostert, Andries Ferreira, Julian Redelinghuys, Robbie Coetzee, Schalk van der Merwe. Replacements: Armand van der Merwe, Jacques van Rooyen, Ruan Dreyer, Robert Kruger, Ruaan Lerm, Faf de Klerk, Elton Jantjies, Howard Mnisi.
Highlanders: Ben Smith (co-captain), Waisake Naholo, Malakai Fekitoa, Richard Buckman, Patrick Osborne, Lima Sopoaga, Aaron Smith, Nasi Manu (co-captain), Dan Pryor, Gareth Evans, Mark Reddish, Tom Franklin, Josh Hohneck, Liam Coltman, Kane Hames. Replacements: Ash Dixon, Brendon Edmonds, Ross Geldenhuys, Elliot Dixon, John Hardie, Fumiaki Tanaka, Marty Banks, Jason Emery.
Emirates Lions v Highlanders (since 2006):
Played 7; Emirates Lions Won 3, Highlanders won 4
Emirates Lions points scored: 149
Highlanders points scored: 157
Emirates Lions tries scored: 21
Highlanders tries scored: 15
Average score: 22-21 to the Highlanders
DHL Stormers v Brumbies
Date: Saturday, May 9
SA Time: 17h05
Venue: DHL Newlands, Cape Town
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jason Jaftha (South Africa), Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Team news:
• Juan de Jongh has been bracketed at outside centre with Huw Jones for the DHL Stormers and will be given until Saturday to prove his fitness.
• Upfront, Eben Etzebeth and Steven Kitshoff return from their break last week, for Jean Kleyn and Oli Kebble respectively, while Manuel Carizza replaces the injured Ruan Botha in the second row.
• Kleyn will start on the bench, where Jones is bracketed with Pat Howard should De Jongh miss out.
• Brumbies props JP and Ruan Smith are South African-born, hail from Vryburg and attended Paarl Gymnasium before relocating to Australia a few years ago. Ruan played SA Schools in 2008, while both brothers represented Western Province at U19 and U21 levels.
Stats:
• The last three matches between these sides have all been won by 10 or more points, with the DHL Stormers picking up two 13-point victories but losing the most recent meeting, by 25-15 in Canberra last year.
• The DHL Stormers have won three of their last four games, while the Brumbies have lost three of their last four.
• The Brumbies boast the best line-out success rate this season (91%), while the DHL Stormers’ 78% is the second worst.
• Cape Town is the Brumbies’ second favourite destination in South Africa – they’ve won 50% of their matches at Newlands. It’s only higher in Johannesburg (67%), but lower in Pretoria (40%), Durban (25%) and Bloemfontein (25%).
Quotes:
DHL Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee: “The Brumbies are a very good side. They’re very structured and don’t gift you any possession. They’re well coached and well organised in all aspects of their game. They’ve got a great maul and lineout (attacking-wise and defensively) and we really have to be up for this one.”
The teams are:
DHL Stormers: Cheslin Kolbe, Johnny Kotze, Juan de Jongh / Huw Jones, Damian de Allende, Dillyn Leyds, Demetri Catrakilis, Nic Groom, Duane Vermeulen (captain), Siya Kolisi, Schalk Burger, Manuel Carizza, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: Scarra Ntubeni, Alistair Vermaak, Vincent Koch, Jean Kleyn, Nizaam Carr, Louis Schreuder, Kurt Coleman, Huw Jones / Pat Howard.
Brumbies: Jesse Mogg, Henry Speight, Tevita Kuridrani, Robbie Coleman, Joe Tomane, Christian Lealiifano, Nic White, Ita Vaea, David Pocock, Scott Fardy, Sam Carter, Rory Arnold, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore (captain), JP Smith. Replacements: Josh Mann-Rea, Allan Alaalatoa, Ruan Smith, Jordan Smiler, Jarrad Butler, Michael Dowsett, Nigel Ah Wong, James Dargaville.
DHL Stormers v Brumbies (since 1998):
Played 16; DHL Stormers won 4; lost 11; drawn 1
DHL Stormers points scored: 301
Brumbies points scored: 374
DHL Stormers tries scored: 31
Brumbies tries scored: 42
Average score: 23-19 to the Brumbies
Other fixtures (SA kick-off times):
Friday, May 8:
09h35: Crusaders v Reds – Christchurch
11h40: Rebels v Blues – Melbourne
Saturday, May 9:
11h40: Force v Waratahs – Perth
Byes: Vodacom Bulls, Toyota Cheetahs, Chiefs – ANA