The DHL Stormers will open their 2024/2025 Investec Champions Cup campaign in Gqeberha on 7 December.
The Stormers will face the French club, Toulon, at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in the Eastern Cape city because their regular home ground of the DHL Stadium in Cape Town is being used for the HSBC Cape Town Sevens that weekend.
It is the second time the Stormers will host a game in Gqeberha - they played the Welsh club, the Dragons, there in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixture in December 2022. The Stormers won that game comfortably and were spurred on by a sizeable and passionate crowd and Stormers coach John Dobson promised afterwards that the Stormers would be back in the city after his team experienced the rugby appetite of a local fan base that is starved of top rugby.
It will be an historic first ever Champions Cup match in Gqeberha - the Southern Kings used to host PRO14 games there before the Stormers played their URC fixture there - and Dobson said his squad is looking forward to taking the Champions Cup to a new frontier.
“Our match against the Dragons two years ago was a fantastic experience and we are looking forward to what will be another special occasion at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium,” said Dobson.
“We are expecting a vibrant atmosphere at a world class stadium, with the added excitement of bringing Champions Cup rugby to the people of Gqeberha.”
Stormers CEO Johan le Roux is equally as excited about the prospect of seeing the Stormers play in Gqeberha.
“Our team is well supported wherever they play and we know the people of the Eastern Cape will turn out in their numbers to experience a Champions Cup match against a renowned Toulon side,” he said.
The capacity of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, which is 46 000, would obviously make it a better venue than the other regular Stormers alternative venue when the DHL Stadium is booked, the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch. Western Province are hosting Sunday’s Carling Currie Cup match against the Airlink Pumas in Stellenbosch.
The Stormers have announced that tickets for the Toulon match will go on sale in October and that DHL Stadium season ticket holders will be able to purchase tickets for the game at a 50 per cent discount.
DHL Stormers Investec Champions Cup fixtures
Stormers v Toulon (Gqeberha, Saturday 7 December, 17.15)
Harlequins v Stormers (London, Saturday 14 December, 22.00)
Stormers v Sale Sharks (Cape Town, Saturday 11 January, 15.00)
Racing 92 v Stormers (Paris, Saturday 18 January, 22.00)