The wet weather that has hovered around Gauteng for much of the early part of his year might end up playing into the hands of the DHL Stormers in Saturday’s eagerly awaited return Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby against the Bulls at Loftus.
It wouldn’t have been thus through most of the history of north/south clashes, with the accepted narrative usually being that while playing at altitude was an obvious challenge for a team coming from the coast, Western Province and the Stormers relied more on their backs and the Bulls more on their forwards and a tactical game.
The X-factor they had in their ranks would therefore give the visitors a chance.
TIMES HAVE CHANGED AND SO HAS THE NARRATIVE
But times have changed, both on the macro and micro scale. On the macro level, the Bulls are playing much more of a tempo game than they did historically, and it arguably had the Stormers in trouble in the early stages of their first round derby in Cape Town.
The hosts did appear a bit caught off guard by the pace with which the Bulls played in the opening minutes as well as their eagerness to get the ball to the extremities of play.
On the micro level, it is also true that you have to cut your suit to fit the cloth. Meaning that you can only play the game that the fit and available personnel make it possible for you to play.
And right now the Stormers are lacking the X-factor players like Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse and Suleiman Hartzenberg that would give the Stormers a chance of cracking any opposing defence open with even just scraps of possession on a fast and dry highveld field.
Which is why the Stormers might actually have more of a chance on Saturday if, as the weather forecasters are predicting, the Loftus game is played in wet weather on what should be a sodden field.
While Libbok’s attacking skills have been missed in his absence, he is not necessarily the player you would want to back as your flyhalf in a wet weather game that is played in a more tactical way.
Indeed, the Boks made what, if fate had played out differently, could have been a costly mistake when they started with Libbok ahead of Handre Pollard in the wet weather 2023 World Cup semifinal against England. You will recall that Libbok was yanked from the field before halftime.
You wouldn’t necessarily be prepared to mention Libbok and (the man who has played in his stead in the Stormers No 10 jersey while he has been away injured) Jurie Matthee in the same breath if you are referencing the attack from transition style of rugby the Stormers are renowned for. That makes them particularly lethal.
GOOD HORSES FOR COURSES OPTIONS
However, if team selections were made on a strict horses for courses principle, then Matthee would certainly enter into the conversation for a slower game where tactical kicking has more of a role to play.
Likewise when you are comparing Paul de Wet, who would be visiting what next year will be his new home ground if selected for the Loftus clash, and Stefan Ungerer.
The latter invariably enters into the conversation when the Stormers are selecting for an overseas game, particularly at those times of the year when the northern hemisphere is under a blanket of cloud, and it is for good reason. He has a strong kicking game and good tactical awareness.
Ungerer wore the No 9 against the Bulls in the first round game in Cape Town and Matthee the No 10, and that looks likely to be the case again on Saturday as it was Ungerer who fronted an impromptu media session at the Stormers’ High Performance Centre in Bellville during the buildup to the Loftus game.
And the former Sharks, Southern Kings and Griquas star, who hails initially from Pietermaritzburg where his late father Jacques was a fine and renowned club player in the early 1990s, made no bones about what is being expected at Loftus this weekend.
“I don’t think the weather is going to be very nice in Pretoria this weekend so kicking is going to be very important in his game,” said Ungerer while standing in 32 degree heat under a clear blue sky.
“Kicking will be very important if the conditions are what we are anticipating, and it is going to be very important to control territory, to put the big men into the right areas to play from.
"The Bulls do have a good kicking game, we have seen how good they’ve been at controlling games through their kicking and we have to be up to that challenge.
“Whether it is Willie (le Roux) or Boeta (Chamberlain) who plays flyhalf for them they have a big boot there, and Devon (Williams) at fullback also has a big boot. Combating that is going to be important too. We need to understand what kick is coming and how to execute the counter from there.”
MUCH WILL HINGE ON FIRST-PHASE BATTLE
Of course, the Bulls will have a significant leg up in a wet weather game if they repeat the scrumming dominance they enjoyed in Cape Town three weeks ago, but Ungerer is hopeful that his teammates in the forwards won’t allow a repeat this time.
“The Bulls will revolve a lot of their approach over what happens up front, and we are expecting a big set piece battle,” he said.
“We have had a look at the Cape Town game and will look to continue what we did well and improve in those areas where we didn’t do well. Yes, we are motivated by the one point defeat we suffered the last time we played them, but it is also a completely different game now, with a few new and different faces.”
Heading to Loftus for another @Vodacom #URC Origin Round against @BlueBullsRugby this weekend.
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) February 24, 2025
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With the Stormers looking set to start with a very similar starting team to the one that played the Bulls in Cape Town, Ungerer’s reference to new faces might well be to props Ali Vermaak and Neethling Fouche, who were both missing from the one point defeat because they were 11th hour withdrawals following a training ground accident.
The Stormers are hoping that the extra depth the presence of Vermaak and Fouche will bring when it comes to scrum time will help even up the scrum battle, and their lineouts, which were also a problem area against the Bulls, were much improved against the Emirates Lions in the game they’ve played subsequent to the Cape Town derby.
TWO WEEKS OF PREPARATION
We will only know on Saturday what is better, but the Stormers have also had a markedly different buildup to this game than the Bulls have. While the Pretoria team has played non-stop since the DHL Stadium derby, the Stormers had a bye last week.
“A north/south derby is a big one, every derby between two South African teams is tough,” said the scrumhalf.
“We’ve had two weeks of good preparation for this game and we are eager to turn around the tough couple of results of our last two visits to the north - last year’s derby at Loftus and our last game against the Lions in Johannesburg. After two weeks of prep, we are very excited and eager to get onto the field.”
The Stormers team for the Loftus clash will be announced on Friday.