Stormers look to veterans to steady URC ship in crucial Bulls North-South derby

The Stormers will bank on the experienced heads returning to the starting team to give them the edge against a high-flying Bulls side on Saturday in their North-South derby at Loftus Versfeld.

It’s a critical United Rugby Championship (URC) clash when looking at the Cape side’s season, and they are under no illusions that only a victory in Pretoria (2pm kick-off) will be good enough to keep their campaign on the path they set out for themselves.

Following three losses on the trot against South African opposition, the former URC winners need a victory — not just to salvage some pride in the local derbies, but to keep daylight between themselves and the chasing SA teams.

Ruhan Nel is back as captain and will bring some attacking and defensive nous to the No 13 jersey. Under his leadership, the Stormers were unbeaten at the start of the season. Next to Springbok Damian Willemse, one of three centurions returning to the team, the centre pairing will provide some much-needed experience alongside young flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who will be under plenty of scrutiny.

Two other centurions will add their experience to the pack: tighthead prop Neethling Fouché and loose forward Deon Fourie, who returns after a long-term injury. They won’t just bring leadership qualities, but also the ability to rally their teammates through their individual contributions. Fouché will be crucial in the scrums, while Fourie’s breakdown work will come up against the prowess of Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee.

The physicality of eighthman Evan Roos will be missed as he is sidelined with a hip-pointer injury.

Nel is amped to be back on the field following a frustrating spell on the sidelines and knows all too well what is at stake. He picked up a calf strain and, just as he was set to return against Leicester Tigers in the Champions Cup, injured his Achilles — delaying his comeback further.

“You are always nervous when you get back into the side because there might be a little bit of rust to shake off,” Nel said.

“Shaking it off at Loftus is always a special occasion. But I’ve never been one to get caught up in trying to do too much to prove myself. I don’t think I have anything to prove; otherwise, the coaches would not have selected me.

“The same goes for the entire 23-man squad. The guys have their abilities, and the coaches know what we can do. If we can stick to that and our strengths, things are bound to go well for us.”

Assistant coach Dawie Snyman said the Bulls are a well-balanced side with threats right across the park. He highlighted their strong set piece and effective kicking game as two of their main weapons, adding that there will always be an extra edge to a North-South derby.

The Stormers lead the way in terms of favourable results when facing the Bulls, and there is the prospect of securing a double over their arch-rivals this season.

“Whatever they’ve done and what we’ve done before this won’t really count for much. It will be about what happens on the day,” Snyman said.

“We must focus on the small moments and control what we can. It will be a tough challenge, but one we are looking forward to. There is no extra motivation needed. It is one of the biggest games of the season for us, and we feel we are one or two moments away from hitting our straps.

“Any log points at this stage, especially away from home, are important. We didn’t do ourselves any favours over the last three games. We did not pick up any points from them, and before that, we were really well positioned. But there is still a lot of rugby to be played.”

Stormers XV

15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.

Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Paul de Villiers, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Imad Khan, 22 Jonathan Roche, 23 Wandisile Simelane.