a sinking a resurgent Blues side last week they face a Chiefs side which is staggering to find its feet after being humiliated 3 times in their own backyard.
This is not the match the Chiefs would have wanted at this stage of the competition, their form is plummeting whilst the Stormers are playing with the confidence of champions who believe that 2010 will be their year.
Another positive sign for the Stormers go is that they have not tinkered with the side that hammered the Blues and start with the same fifteen as last week. Many were worried that Duvenhage, who has been a revelation this season, would not recover in time, but the No.9 playmaker is raring to go and ready to provide Peter Grant with a great platform to dictate play.
Expect a mighty mêlée amongst the front row with JC covering for JD and Big Brok ready to rock! It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs have sorted out their lineout problems which plagued them throughout the Bulls game and if they have not it is going to be easy peasy lemon squeezy for the Stormers who have some brilliant loose forwards who are only too willing to exploit these gaffes. Burger is playing some of his best rugby of his career as is Flo and Duane Vermeulen and I will bet my house at least one of these boys will get white line fever.
Boasting the greatest defense in the Super 14 it is difficult to imagine that the Chiefs have the firepower to blast through and cause an upset by beating the Stormers. For once the Stormers look the part of Champs and bar a total implosion on the day there is no doubt who will win this one.
Dwayne Sweeny against Habana, Peter Grant against Mike Delany this match will have some match ups that we might see repeated in the Tests to come and it is one that should turn out to be a rugby spectacle of note.
Prediciton: Impossible to see the Chiefs slowing down the Stormers machine as it bashes it’s way into the playoffs. We are expecting a comprehensive win by the Capetonians, let’s say by 15.
Teams:
Stormers:15. Gio Aplon,14. Sireli Naqelevuki,13. Jaque Fourie,12. Juan De Jong,11. Bryan Habana,10. Peter Grant ,9. Dewaldt Duvenage,8. Duane Vermeulen,7 Francois Louw,6. Schalk Burger (c),5. Andries Bekker ,4. Adriaan Fondse,3. Brok Harris,2. Tiaan Liebenberg ,1. JD Moller
Reserves:16. Deon Fourie,17. JC Kritzinger,18. Anton Van Zyl,19. Pieter Louw,20. Ricky Januarie,21. Willem De Waal, 22. Tim Whitehead.
Chiefs: 1. Toby Smith,2. Hika Elliot,3. Ben Afeaki,4. Craig Clarke,5. Culum Retallick,6. Liam Messam (captain),7. Tanerau Latimer,8. Sione Lauaki,9. Brendon Leonard,10. Mike Delany,11. Dwayne Sweeney,12. Stephen Donald,13. Richard Kahui,14. Lelia Masaga,15. Tim Nanai-Williams
Reserves: 16. Vern Kamo, 17. Nathan White, 18. Romana Graham, 19.Colin Bourke 20. Junior Poluleuligaga, 21. Callum Bruce, 22. Jackson Willison.
