Stormers happy to make Gqeberha their alternative base

The DHL Stormers lost their opening Investec Champions Cup game to Toulon in Gqeberha at the weekend but it was most emphatically not the venue that cost them.

The Stormers have lost two games already at home this season, which is as many defeats as they suffered in Cape Town the whole season (Ospreys and La Rochelle). But they have only played at their usual home headquarters of DHL Stadium once so far this season, which was their impressive Vodacom United Rugby Championship win over Munster in October.

The following weekend they had to host the URC champions Glasgow Warriors at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch because of a clash with a country western music festival that was booked many years in advance. They lost that game, and then their next home game was this past weekend, where they had to host Toulon at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium because DHL Stadium was being used for the Cape Town Sevens.

With the venue being 800km away from their regular home base, it would be easy to assume that the Stormers’ defeat might have had something to do with that, but the large crowd that turned out certainly wasn’t to blame. Indeed, the 27 000 people in the stadium made as much noise, if not more, and supported the Stormers with the same passion as the crowd at DHL Stadium does.

With the jingles the same and the chants the same, plus the same stadium announcer, you had to pinch yourself at times to make sure you weren’t sitting in the Greenpoint venue and not the one in Gqeberha. When Manie Libbok lined up his kicks at posts, the chants of “Manie, Manie, Manie…” that rang out around the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium were cacophonous.

The fact that the Stormers would have lots of support was obvious from the number of Stormers shirts spotted at the otherwise sparsely populated St George’s Park during the first two sessions of the third day of the second cricket test between the Proteas and Sri Lanka. That interest was confirmed upon arrival at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, a few kilometres away from the cricket venue, and by kick-off, the crowd was a sea of blue.

'FANTASTIC SUPPORT'

Stormers coach John Dobson had enthused about the support his team received on their last visit to the stadium to host a game, that being a URC clash with the Dragons almost exactly two years ago. On that occasion, 14 000 pitched up, so the crowd doubled for the Champions Cup.

“The support was fantastic and I know the players really appreciated it,” said Dobson.

His captain on the day, Neethling Fouche, concurred: “It was really great playing in front of that crowd, I am only disappointed that we could not give them the result they wanted.”

Dobson spoke last time of the outreach opportunity that was presented, with the Stormers brand being sold to the people of the Eastern Cape, and he said he could see the value of using the stadium as a home venue for the Stormers more often.

On average there are three games a year where the Stormers have to use an alternative venue to the one they rent from the Cape Town City Council, and Dobson can see the merit in playing all those games in Gqeberha.

“It is above my pay grade so maybe it is not something I should comment on, but I can certainly see the good that can be had out of using this as our alternative venue rather than Stellenbosch,” said Dobson.

“Of course, we do get passionate support at the Danie Craven Stadium, but that feels a bit provincial, compared to this feeling like a big occasion, doesn’t it?”

Playing more often in Gqeberha would help sate the obvious appetite for rugby of a community that no longer sees top games due to the demise of the Southern Kings and the problems that have troubled Eastern Province for several decades.

The support for Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium as a venue and the appreciation of the support received from the people of the Eastern Cape does not mean though that the Stormers won’t be looking forward to getting back onto the field at DHL Stadium again.

That opportunity comes in two weeks when they host the Emirates Lions in the first of two plum home URC derbies, the second one being against the Hollywoodbets Sharks a week later (28 December).