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The Stormers enter round 6 of competition unbeaten in their four games and perched at the top of the ladder with 20 points. Interestingly, they have only scored 2 tries in those four games this season despite having one of the best backlines in the competition. The Stormers will be a tough proposition for the Force who have only just registered their first win and are desperate to build in confidence. On the back of that Lions victory, the Force have slithered into 9th place but there seems to be a growing feeling within the team that they can take it to anyone anywhere. The cause will definitely be advanced with Schalk Burger being left out of this weekend’s match. Can they silence the roar of the Newlands crowd?
Head to Head
Matches between the Force and the Stormers have tended to be pretty sloppy but closely run affairs. The 2006, 2009 and 2010 clashes each resulted in a 1 point winning margin with the former two games going to the Capetonians and last year’s game going to the Force after a sensational David Hill drop goal after that siren that saw NIB stadium erupt. More of the same please guys. The other two games were a bit more lopsided with a 22-3 win to the Force in Capetown in 2007 and 32-16 to the Stormers at Subiaco Oval in 2008. So the Force sit on a pretty good record at Newlands with a win and a loss.
How we are going to win it...
One thing is for certain about this game: One of the two teams is going to finish the game very, very frustrated. Saturday night will see a challenge of who can keep their heads. We boast arguably the form backrow of the competition thus far and Matty, Benny, and Dicky will need to cause as much havoc as possible without giving away too many penalties, or worse. The normally disciplined Force unit is in the unenviable position of having received a yellow sticker in every game this season. That trend must stop in Capetown or we can kiss the game goodbye.
It is clear from their first four games that the Stormers are more than happy to win in any way possible. They will keep the scoreboard ticking over courtesy of Peter Grant at every opportunity. To minimise the Grant threat and frustrate the Stormers, the Force should aim to pin the Stormers in their half of the field. The Force line-out, led masterfully by Nathan Sharpe, performed brilliantly against the Lions and it makes sense to play to this strength. Furthermore, Gio Aplon and Bryan Habana aren’t renowned kickers and some committed kick-chase should see them under pressure if they are forced to run the ball. These two, along with the likes of Jaque Fourie and Jean de Villiers are excellent ball runners and we will need the same approach and intensity in defence that we showed against the Blues.
The kicking for territory approach also allows us to limit how often we go head to head against the Stormers’ excellent defence. Our attack showed improvement against the Lions; however it would need to go up to another level to stress the Stormers’ line.
Key match-up
Purely for being two of the biggest men in the stadium, you can’t look past Nathan Sharpe vs Andries Bekker. In the game that will see Sharpie set the record for most Super rugby games played he will come up against one of the tallest people to play rugby. A true clash of the titans. A clash that will probably be relived in the Tri-Nations series and possibly even the World Cup. Both Sharpe and Bekker are in their own personal best form but are also two of the form locks in their respective countries. Let’s hope that Sharpie’s record breaking game is one to remember.
Predicted result
Any away game against the competition leaders is bound to see you as rank outsiders. There is no denying the Force will have to put in a mammoth effort to knock the Stormers off here. But are the Stormers really as good as their results say? They have struggled to score tries at home against some of the poorer teams in the competition: the Lions and the Cheetahs. It almost seems a bit pedestrian. Now the threat there is that they can play a lot better than they have, but will they? It could just be that the Force will be the most difficult team yet for the Stormers. However, as difficult as our guys make it for the Stormers, I am not sure that will equate to a win. Stormers by 6.
Teams
Emirates Western Force Squad
1. Pek Cowan
2. Ben Whittaker
3. Tim Fairbrother
4. Sam Wykes
5. Nathan Sharpe (c)
6. Richard Brown
7. Matt Hodgson (vc)
8. Ben McCalman
9. Brett Sheehan
10. James O'Connor
11. David Smith
12. Gene Fairbanks
13. Nick Cummins
14. Alfie Mafi
15. Cameron Shepherd
Reserves
16. Nathan Charles
17. Kieran Longbottom
18. Tom Hockings
19. Tevita Metuisela
20. James Stannard
21. Matt Brandon
22. Pat Dellit
Stormers:
1. Wicus Blaauw
2. Deon Fourie
3. Brok Harris
4. De Kock Steenkamp
5. Andries Bekker
6. Pieter Louw
7. Francois Louw
8. Duane Vermeulen
9. Dewaldt Duvenhage
10. Peter Grant
11. Bryan Habana
12. Jean de Villiers
13. Jaque Fourie
14. Danie Poolman
15. Gio Aplon .
Reserves:
16. Siyabonga Ntubeni
17. CJ Van de Lind,
18. Anton van Zyl
19. Nick Koster
20. Ricky Januarie
21. Lionel Cronje
22. Juan de Jongh.
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Originally Posted by BeeJay
