It’s the battle of the titans as South African Conference winners the DHL Stormers collide with the New Zealand Conference-winning Crusaders in a blockbuster Vodacom Super Rugby semi-final showdown in Cape Town on Saturday.
The hosts, who finished the regular season in second place behind Australian Conference winners the Reds with 12 wins and four defeats, are one match away from reaching their second Vodacom Super Rugby final in as many seasons.
Standing in their way are the seven-time champion Crusaders, who boast a remarkable record of 17 victories from 22 knockout matches, including a 27-16 win over the Stormers in their first semi-final encounter in Christchurch in 2004.
Tellingly, however, the Crusaders have lost all three semi-finals they have contested on South African soil, all against the Vodacom Bulls – in 2007, 2009 and 2010 – a testament of the importance of home ground advantage and the handicap of travelling across the Indian Ocean.
The hosts are well-rested following their bye, while jetlag and a physical battle against the Sharks in last weekend’s Qualifier in Nelson are bound to take its toll on the visitors in the latter stages of Saturday’s clash.
This advantage, though, may well be nullified by the psychological edge the visitors enjoy over the Stormers due to their spirited 20-14 win at the same venue in May that was made all the more impressive as it was achieved without key men Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Andy Ellis and Brad Thorn.
They had also lost Israel Dagg, Sean Maitland, Kahn Fotuali’i and Adam Whitelock to injury in the first half. The Stormers, in contrast, fielded a near full-strength side with Peter Grant the only first-choice player ruled out of the clash.
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said improved decision-making will be the key to thwarting the challenge of the Crusaders this time round in the pressure-cooker environment of play-off rugby.
“The Crusaders have class all over the pitch and we know the huge challenge that they pose. Our physical intensity will have to be massive for the full 80 minutes if we want to come out with a positive result,” commented Coetzee.
“It will be vital for us to be accurate and to make better decisions than the last time we played them. We had chances to put them away and we didn’t, so we have focused on our decision-making ahead of the game.”
With both sides lethal on turnover ball, Coetzee said accuracy in execution and minimising mistakes will be two other focal points.
“Errors are made in every game, but with the huge pressure on the players this Saturday it would be natural if more mistakes are made,” said Coetzee.
“That being said, the team has been preparing for this moment for seven months and this coupled with our experience of these types of games over the last few years will help us to ensure that we maintain our accuracy,” he added.
The Stormers will be without ace No 8 Duane Vermeulen, who suffered a knee injury in the win over the Toyota Cheetahs in the Cape side’s final regular season match a fortnight ago.
Nick Koster will subsequently start at the back of the scrum with Saracens standout Schalk Brits coming onto the bench as loose forward cover. In the only other change to the pack, the larger Tiaan Liebenberg starts at hooker ahead of Deon Fourie.
Coetzee has also opted to reshuffle his backline with Jean de Villiers reverting to his more accustomed position of inside centre and Gio Aplon moving to the wing, with the reliable Conrad Jantjes included in the last last of defence.
Dewaldt Duvenage and Jaque Fourie are both carrying minor injuries but have been named in the starting line-up. Duvenage’s injury is said to be the most worrying and the Stormers have successfully registered Nic Groom as back-up as a precautionary measure.
The Crusaders on the other hand have made just one change with All Black skipper Richie McCaw returning from a foot injury at the expense of Matt Todd. McCaw takes over the captaincy from Kieran Read, who has been cleared from injury and retains his place at No 8.
Key Battle: The battle of the flyhalves will be as crucial as ever as Peter Grant will look to send a message to Springbok coach Peter de Villiers after being omitted from the preliminary Springbok World Cup squad and Dan Carter will want to regain his form after an ordinary day with the boot against the Sharks.
Then there’s the mouth-watering clash of the midfields and round two of Jean de Villiers versus Sonny Bill Williams. Their first meeting was tightly contested with Williams shading it due to a trademark off-load which created the first of the Crusaders’ two tries.
Jaque Fourie’s upstaging of Robbie Fruean was more decisive and levelled the scores at one-all, which sets the scene for a thrilling tussle. Two greats of the modern era will renew their legendary rivalry in a captain versus captain clash as Schalk Burger and Richie McCaw lock horns once more.
However, the most significant confrontation will be that of Wicus Blaauw, Tiaan Liebenberg and Brok Harris versus Wyatt Crockett, Cory Flynn and Owen Franks. It was here, in the front row, where the round 12 encounter between the sides was won.
Crockett had led the Crusaders’ front row’s charge with a Man of the Match two-try performance and the all-All Blacks combination had the upper hand at scrum time over the trio of Blaauw, Fourie and CJ van der Linde.
Coetzee has turned to Liebenberg and Harris to turn the tables on the visitors, but they will have their work cut out for them as they will come up against a trio boosted by Flynn’s 100th appearance for the Crusaders.
Last Meeting: Crusaders 20-14 Stormers (Cape Town).
Prediction: Coetzee’s changes in personnel more than hints at a conservative game plan and whether or not early predictions of possible rain come to fruition, the Crusaders are also likely to play field position.
The battle at the breakdown will thus be of the utmost importance and here the teams will turn to scavengers Francois Louw and McCaw to work their magic. The tactical nous of the halfback pairings will also come to the fore and the possible loss of Duvenage would be a massive blow for the hosts.
It’s bound to be a match of Test match-like intensity that could be decided by a single score. As a result, goal-kicking will be crucial, and with Grant boasting an unrivalled 84.7% success rate and Carter struggling to find his range, the Stormers could have the edge.
Ultimately, the Stormers’ home ground advantage and the Crusaders’ travel bogey will converge and see the Stormers book their place in the final with a narrow three-point win.
Saturday 2 July: DHL Stormers v Crusaders, Cape Town (17:05)
DHL Stormers: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Schalk Brits, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Johann Sadie.
Crusaders: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Zac Guildford, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 George Whitelock, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Luke Romano, 19 Matt Todd, 20 Kahn Fotuali’i, 21 Matt Berquist, 22 Ryan Crotty.
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