The battle lines will be clearly marked on Saturday when the DHL Stormers host the Vodacom Bulls in their highly anticipated Vodacom United Rugby Championship north-south derby in Cape Town, where the Pretoria outfit will be looking to reduce the gap between themselves and the two top sides on the standings, while the hosts will be desperate to close in on the top eight to improve their playoff chances.
The postponed first round fixture is the only match that will play out this weekend – with only a handful of tickets remaining – and kicks off a string of exciting local derbies in the next three weeks, which will see the two archenemies cross paths once again on Saturday, 1 March.
The outcome of these games will be crucial in the race for the SA Shield, which the Vodacom Bulls snatched from the DHL Stormers last season.
The DHL Stormers currently top the SA Shield log with 11 points from the two wins in their three local derbies, but the Vodacom Bulls are only five points shy with a game in hand – the Hollywoodbets Sharks are one nine points also from three games – and victory for the visitors in Cape Town will see them close the gap in the race to domestic bragging rights.
The Vodacom Bulls, who suffered a heart-breaking five-point defeat against the Glasgow Warriors in last year’s Grand Final, currently occupy third place on the table with 30 points – seven points behind the second-placed Glasgow and 18 points shy of log-leaders Leinster – with two games in hand, and they will be desperate to close that gap as they hunt a home ground advantage in the playoffs.
The DHL Stormers, in turn, are in 12th place on the table with 21 points – three points behind the eighth-placed Edinburgh – with one game in hand and will be determined to leap into the top half of the standings with eight pool matches remaining after this encounter to boost their playoff hopes.
The men from Pretoria have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with this season, winning six of their eight matches to date, and they will enter the match with confidence after registering a 35-22 victory in their last outing against the Emirates Lions.
However, they will go up against a determined Cape outfit, who boast an impressive home record of three wins in four outings at the DHL Stadium this season, and who will be desperate to bounce back strongly from their 36-12 defeat against Leinster in their last match.
Spicing up the clash, the DHL Stormers boast an impressive track record against the Vodacom Bulls in the competition, boasting seven wins in eight outings, which included victories in four of their last five matches, while they also defeated the Pretoria outfit at the DHL Stadium in the 2021/2022 Grand Final.
The teams are closely matched on attack, with the Vodacom Bulls having scored only 19 more points than their Cape rivals, however, the Gauteng unit have been much more effective on defence conceding 150 points to 214 by the opposition, meaning the DHL Stormers will have to step up their defence.
Match Information:
DHL Stormers v Vodacom Bulls
Date: Saturday, 8 February
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
SA Time: 14h00
Referee: Morne Ferreira
TV: SuperSport
Saber-Red
Sport Trivia: Which South African who played between 1949 and 1960 was named a Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1956? Answer: Hugh Tayfield. Hugh Tayfield once bowled 137 consecutive dot balls in a 1956/57 Test match against England which was held in Durban. Statistics for bowlers who have played 20 or more tests show that Hugh Tayfield conceded only 1.64 runs per over during his test career.
Whistler
In 1989, along with Sachin Tendulkar, 23 other cricketers made their International debuts. The last one to retire before Sachin, was New Zealand\’s Chris Cairns, who retired in 2004.