Stormers to gain another psychological edge over Bulls?
SPOTLIGHT: A United Rugby Championship quarterfinal between the Stormers and Bulls has set tongues wagging, but it is going to get heated a week before that in an intriguing Currie Cup clash.
Western Province and the Bulls will meet at Cape Town Stadium, the same venue for the URC play-off, on Saturday and that match could be used to get a psychological edge ahead of the bigger match a week later.
The Stormers have already beaten the Bulls twice in the URC season and WP knocked them over in their earlier meeting in this season’s Currie Cup in Pretoria.
John Dobson’s Stormers team also beat the Bulls three times in the URC last season, with one of those matches being that Final at Cape Town Stadium.
Dobson mentioned that he is going to give his Stormers players time off this weekend and it will be interesting to see if Jake White will be doing the same.
While the quarterfinal will attract most of the spotlight and discussion, Stormers assistant coach Norman Laker says they are keeping that outside noise at bay.
“It’s a match on its own,” said Laker, referring to this weekend’s Currie Cup clash.
“We are focussing hard on the Currie Cup and getting better every week.
“For us, it is important to put an 80-minute performance together.
“Over the last few weeks, we had some good 60 or 50-minute performances, but we want to do it for 80 minutes.
“It remains a good challenge for us as coaches to focus on both teams and I think we are doing a good job.”
Laker added: “Any Bulls side that comes to Cape Town or any Province team that goes to Loftus, it will definitely be a tough game.
“Everyone wants to prove a point in a North-South derby.
“For us, it is nice to play back-to-back games [against the Bulls], but we are purely focussed on this Saturday’s game.”
One and the same
Laker also believes the Bulls’ Currie Cup will provide his team with some glimpses of what to expect for the URC showdown.
“The Bulls are quite aligned when it comes to the Currie Cup and URC teams and both teams are being coached by Jake with Russell [Winter] and Chris [Rossouw].
“They are a well-coached team and they do have a lot of similarities with the way they play. It is going to be a nice tough game.
On the injury front, Laker confirmed that wing Suleiman Hartzenbeg suffered a knee injury in the Currie Cup defeat to the Pumas.
The Stormers are waiting for a medical update on him after he went for scans.
Locks Ruben van Heerden and Ernst van Rhyn both suffered knee injuries in the URC clash against Benetton and they are seeing a specialist.
Wing Seabelo Senatla suffered a concussion in that game after coming off second-best in a high ball collision.
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