Glasgow Warriors v Stormers - teams and prediction
PREVIEW: The first of the four United Rugby Championship quarterfinals is a repeat of last season when Glasgow Warriors welcome the Stormers to Scotstoun Stadium on Friday.
The Warriors have the Capetonians’ number in the URC having won four of their last five meetings.
The Stormers’ only win against Glasgow came in 2022 at the Cape Town Stadium during their triumphant season, since then it’s been four on the bounce for the defending champions.
However, this does not faze Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson as he is positive that his side will deliver the goods and go all the way coming off a four-match home winning streak.
“Given the momentum we’ve got now and the belief in this group, I’m expecting us to be extremely competitive against Glasgow,” Dobson said.
“It’s a massive reset and refocus for us now. We start from scratch, and we’ve got to be at the Final.”
Dobson selected exciting utility back Suleiman Hartzenberg at outside centre with Springbok Damian Willemse serving a suspension for a high tackle in the final league match against Cardiff a fortnight ago.
Dobson explained his thinking for selecting Hartzenberg over Wandisile Simelane who has worn the No.13 jersey in recent times despite Hartzenberg’s lack of game time in the position.
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“Probably not, we probably should’ve given him more games there [at No.13],” Dobson told @rugby365com after being asked if Hartzenberg had sufficient game time at outside centre this season.
“It is [however] a move we want to make in the long term. We looked at the opposition, how we want to defend and the [playing] surface.
“We obviously had the option of the more experienced one [outside centre] in Wandi [Wandisile Simelane] who is unlucky to miss out.
“Without saying too much – we’ve got a plan in terms of the way Suleiman [Hartzenberg] played two weeks ago on the wing where he was excellent.
“It’s not a stepping surface. It’s more high-speed where you’ll need someone who can work back.
“We made some tweaks to our defence where we feel Suleiman can be useful. Some of the plans are more around the aerial game.
“It’s a horses for courses selection. You can’t account for injuries and suspensions but I feel this is the best team we can put out.”
When asked what the reasoning was for a six-two [forward heavy bench split], Dobson explained to @rugby365com that the artificial pitch and their versatility allowed them the specific bench selection.
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“It’s worked more often than not. It will be a tight game being a quarterfinal. We can put on two Springboks in the backs with Manie [Libbok] that can come on at No.15 with Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] being able to pretty much cover the whole backline.
“Dan du Plessis can move to No.13 and Suleiman can move out to wing. In a game like this, I didn’t want a [third] back as a reserve.
“If you end that game with Louw Nel covering tiring loose forwards and with Connor [Evans] and JD [Schickerling] at lock, who can also play flank alongside Joseph Dweba, Vernon Matongo and Sazi Sandi in the front row can be a massive impact in the pack.
“That’s our plan. The 4G pitch will require a lot of running, the pack is likely to tire. If we didn’t have that multi-skill [backline] cover then a five-three [forward heave bench split] would be more risky because there is a risk.”
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Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith had a similar outlook on Dobson’s selection for his side.
“The Stormers will pose one of the most dangerous attacking threats in the competition tomorrow [Friday] night, and we know that we must be at our best to meet the challenge they will bring.
“They have the ability to hurt any team with the ball in hand, mixing a physical forward pack with a backline that can spark something from anywhere.
“We know how special an atmosphere Scotstoun can provide on nights like these, and we know the Warrior Nation will make themselves heard tomorrow night.”
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Former Stormer and current Glasgow centre Huw Jones has been ruled out of contention with an Achilles injury he has been struggling with for some time and the prognosis is that it might be an issue that he will have to cope with for the rest of his career according to head coach Franco Smith.
“Unfortunately since the Six Nations, Huw has been struggling with it,” Smith explained. “It’s not a muscle injury, it’s a tendon issue. It flares up and it takes a lot of time to get the inflammation gone, so he’s not been available.
“When this thing reoccurred at the back end of last week, it looked treatable and we’ve managed it well. But it just flared up again on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately now for him, we have to go and have a deeper look to see if we can get him fixed and get the inflammation down so he’ll be able to play in any other game that hopefully we will play going forward.”
Smith said different factors could ignite Jones’ situation such as “different field surfaces, training load, rehabilitation” and it would be an issue the 31-year-old will need to cope with for the rest of his playing days.
“Without becoming a doctor in five minutes, I can honestly state that it’s something that will be managed for the rest of his career,” Smith said.
“By the last five years of my own [playing] career, I had similar problems, so I can relate to what’s happening to him.
“Unfortunately, you pick up a little bit of wear and tear through the years. Now at the later stage of one’s career, it always influences things a little bit. But it is treatable, it is manageable and I’m sure he’ll be back fighting as early as next week.
“Huw is an important player for us and it’s important that he gets well. I think he’s going to play a lot of rugby still this season.
“Our concern about Huw at this moment is being looked at and seeing specialists and making sure we find the right way to treat that and to recover him so he’s available as soon as possible.”
Prediction:
@rugby365com: Glasgow Warriors by eight points
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Steyn (captain), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Alex Samuel, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Jack Mann, 21 Macenzzie Duncan, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Adam Hastings.
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Connor Evans, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Manie Libbok.
Date: Friday, May 30
Venue: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow
Kick-off: 19.35; 20.35 SA time; 18.35 GMT
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Ben Breakspear (Wales)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Video credit @Stormers
With additional reporting by @Rugbypass
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