The north and south battle continues this weekend as the knockout stages of the United Rugby Championship get underway. The Bulls host the Sharks at Loftus while, the Stormers welcome Edinburgh at Cape Town Stadium.
The stakes are high for the Stormers as a win over the Scottish outfit will see them secure a home semi-final having finished second on the log after the round robin stage. The sides have clashed once before this season in a tight encounter that saw it end on a 20-all draw.
Coach John Dobson has made a few changes to the side that faced the Scarlets two weeks ago, to clinch the South African Shield in the final game of the regular season. Fit again scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, returns to the starting line-up, while centre Rikus Pretorius, comes in the place of Damien Willemse, who is yet to recover from an arm injury sustained from the Scarlet clash.
“It has been a good week of preparation, and everyone is excited about what should be a memorable day. We want to raise the intensity and make sure that we are at our best for the full 80 minutes, playing the kind of rugby that has got us into this position.”
“A lot of hard work has gone into securing this home quarter-final, so we are determined to rise to the occasion”, says Dobdson.
Dobson and his men will have confidence running onto the field, as they go into the match off the back of an eight match winning streak at home.
