Springbok bonanza on the cards as Stormers prepare to host Sharks

It is set to be a Springbok bonanza when the Stormers and Sharks clash in their eagerly anticipated United Rugby Championship (URC) derby at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.

Basically a full team of current and former Springbok players will be going head to head when the teams collide in their important coastal derby that both sides will be desperate to win.

After a difficult start to the season that saw the Stormers languishing in the lower half of the URC table, they have built some great momentum over the past month.

Important wins

They have won important games in both the the Champions Cup and URC, including against French giants La Rochelle and last weekend against Highveld rivals the Bulls in the North-South derby which lifted them into the top half of the table.

They will thus head into the Sharks encounter with plenty of confidence, looking to pick up another important victory.

The Sharks, in contrast, have been in disastrous form this season and currently sit second from bottom on the URC log, having won just one of seven games.

They looked to have turned the corner with the return of their Bok stars and a big URC win over Dragons at the end of last month, but they followed that up with a thumping loss against the Bulls.

Their inconsistency continued in the Champions Cup when they thrashed Pau in Durban, before going down 32-29 to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein a week-and-a-half ago, so will head into the Stormers game low on confidence and form.

Where the Sharks will hope to gain an advantage is with their plethora of current and former Springbok stars, who they will want to lift their game and give them the edge in what could be a closely fought battle.

Bok brigade

In their match against the Cheetahs, the Sharks boasted 12 current and former Boks in their match 23, including stars Eben Etzebeth, Ox Nche, Lukhanyo Am, Grant Williams, Makazole Mapimpi and Jaden Hendrikse who all were part of this year’s Rugby World Cup winning squad.

Coenie Oosthuizen, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Curwin Bosch, Francois Venter, Aphelele Fassi and Ntuthuko Mchunu have all also represented the Boks at various stages of their career.

The Stormers by comparison don’t have nearly as many current and former Boks available for the game, with a number of their star players out injured including Frans Malherbe, Evan Roos and Salmaan Moerat.

But World Cup winners Damian Willemse, Deon Fourie and Manie Libbok were all in action against the Bulls, along with Joseph Dweba who has been part of the Bok setup over the past two seasons.

Former Bok Warrick Gelant and Herschel Jantjies could both also return from knocks for the Sharks game which would add to the home side’s Bok stocks.

In all it should be a fascinating matchup between a host of current and former Bok stars who will all be eager to help their sides to what could be a vital win in their respective seasons.