Stormers, Sharks and Bulls primed for Champions Cup action

The Stormers, Sharks and Bulls are all primed and ready for their huge Champions Cup knockout clashes against Harlequins, Munster and Toulouse respectively on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday the Stormers welcome Harlequins to the Cape Town Stadium (kick-off 4pm), while the Sharks host Munster at Kings Park (kick-off 1:30pm), with the Bulls then in action against Toulouse in France on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 4pm).

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South Africa’s top franchise the Stormers will be eager to put in a big performance in their last 16 clash as they look to reach the quarterfinal stage of the Champions Cup at the first time of asking.

In their inaugural United Rugby Championship (URC) season they came up trumps, and in their first Champions Cup campaign they will be keen to progress as far as possible to back that up.

Coach John Dobson is however wary of the threat posed by Harlequins, who play a similar kind of game to them and have a number of internationals in their set-up.

“If they get quick ball and click in our conditions, they can put us under real pressure defensively. I just hope they don’t click,” explained Dobson.

“I saw them put 40 points on Exeter a couple of weeks ago. I think they deserve enormous credit for the type of rugby they play. To play rugby like this in English conditions the way they do, it’s amazing.

“It is a high-risk game and some days it doesn’t happen for them. But to play this style in south-west London, it’s great for rugby.

“Harlequins are a good team, they have two international props. There’s the English axis at halfback with (centre) Andre Esterhuizen who was the Players’ Player of the Season in the Premiership last season. So there are a couple of reasons to keep the expectations in check.”

Tricky Challenge

For the Sharks they face a tricky challenge from fellow URC side Munster, who will know them well after two seasons in the competition.

The Sharks have been on a terrible run of form recently but they will hope that their returning Springboks, who struggled in their first match back against Scarlets last weekend, will be a lot sharper against the Irish giants.

The visitors have been in top URC form but head into the match off of a loss, and the Sharks will be considered slight favourites in home conditions and should be able to win if their Bok stars fire.

The Bulls face the biggest challenge of the weekend as they take on French giants Toulouse in their home conditions.

The Bulls have been in poor form of late and come up against a side in top form, who are currently topping the French Top 14 log, and it would take a mammoth performance and upset for the SA side to come away from France with a win.