After spending so much time overseas the DHL Stormers relishing the prospect of playing in South Africa again and not even the Durban humidity is too off-putting for them as they look forward to Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby against the Cell C Sharks.
When it was announced last week that the game had been rescheduled from Friday night to 2pm on Saturday afternoon it felt like the Cape team had drawn the short straw. Just after lunch time at HollywoodBets Kings Park presents all the ingredients for a sweat bath rather than the type of quick paced running game the Stormers enjoy playing.
The Sharks are also more used to those conditions because they live and train in them, so the change of kick-off time does favour the Durbanites. It would still be humid in a night game, but the discomfort level might not be quite as high. And while there were initially forecasts of rain on Saturday, which would have implied cooler weather, those forecasts have changed to 27 degrees maximum and mostly sunny.
“They say humid conditions means a wet weather game because the ball is slippery but that is not really the case, the ball is more slippery in the humidity (because of the sweaty jerseys) and if there is rain about it is unlikely to be as hot,” said Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman earlier in the week.
Either way though Snyman, although acknowledging that a style adjustment will be necessary, says his team is looking forward to the game
“After so much time playing in the northern hemisphere we are looking forward to playing in South Africa again and against South African opposition. It will be good to be back home even though the game is being played in Durban and not Cape Town,” he said.
“We will be mindful of the conditions. The slippery ball and the humidity does demand a game adjustment. We are realistic about the scenario in Durban. For a game like this you have to look very closely at what tactically you have to get right. The imperative for us is to get good ball and that will give us momentum. That is the most important thing.”
In other words the Stormers aren’t going to Durban backing the self-expression of the passing and offload game they play in Cape Town, but then they’ve faced down many different challenges when it comes to conditions in the northern hemisphere, as have the other South African teams. That is one of the big pluses of the URC. And the Stormers also have some good memories of Durban, and they go beyond the Western Province Currie Cup final wins there in 2012 and 2017, with the second of those being scripted by a John Dobson led management team in which Snyman featured.
“More recently than that we had to go to Durban needing to pick up a four try bonus point along with the win. It was a wet weather game and we hit target. So it is not a venue where we don’t have any happy memories.”
Indeed, it was the Stormers who broke a long Sharks winning streak on their home field in the Rainbow Cup in 2021, and while they lost the last global Super Rugby game played between the teams at Kings Park in 2020, they were victorious in Robbie Fleck’s last season in charge in 2019. And last year they were outplayed for three quarters of the game but still managed to escape with a draw.
But Snyman is under no illusions about the challenge that awaits his team.
“The Sharks’ defence was really good against Edinburgh and wasn’t unlike the Ulster defence we struggled against last week so it is going to be a good challenge to try to break them down,” said Snyman.
There is nothing that the Stormers don’t enjoy more though than a challenge so Saturday’s game should be an absorbing one. The Stormers team will be announced on Friday, as will the Sharks.