Bulls have form but Stormers have history on their side

The Bulls this week travel to Cape Town hoping the trip will be another significant step in their progression.

Victory in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday will not just be a validation of the areas they have sought to improve but it will stretch the seven-point gap they already have over their traditional rivals.

While a win will give the Bulls a significant spring in their step as they head into the new year, a home defeat will leave the Stormers in significant peril in a URC context. They are 10th on the points table with more defeats than wins.

While recent wins over the Sharks, Connacht and Saracens and an unlucky defeat against Lyon will be the wind beneath the Bulls as they wing their way to Cape Town, they know they are carrying unwanted baggage.

The Stormers have won all six URC games they have played against the Bulls.

Addressing that imbalance is just one of their objectives but in the greater scheme of things the Bulls will also be keen to measure their improvements when they clash with their greatest rivals.

They view the double finalists as the most consistent and benchmark team in the URC. They will also need little reminding that the Stormers are hard nuts to crack on home soil, as La Rochelle discovered to their chagrin last weekend.

There have been some significant changes in personnel since their clash in the quarters last season.

The Stormers have to soldier on without double World Cup-winning tight head Frans Malherbe. The prop has been struggling with a recurring lower back injury and the latest flare-up occurred while on duty for the Boks in France.

Despite his absence, the Stormers’ scrum has shown grunt. As back-to-back Champions Cup winners, you’d expect La Rochelle’s scrum to pack a punch but they were mostly in retreat in last weekend’s pool match at Cape Town Stadium.

Neethling Fouche has established himself as a more than capable stand-in for Malherbe, and the Stormers have arguably been as dominant in the set piece with him in the team as they would be when Malherbe is on the park.

Loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff is no longer a Stormer, while the addition of Wilco Louw to the Bulls’ ranks on the tight head side has given their scrum real gravitas.

Apart from the changes in personnel in the front row, the playing surface will provide the packs with a different springboard.

The set piece will invite much scrutiny this weekend with the most dominant scrum now likely to find reward commensurate with effort. Cape Town Stadium’s new hybrid playing surface will should give both packs a sure footing.

Though the starting teams are yet to be confirmed, the performance by Willie le Roux and Warrick Gelant at fullback is another area that will attract eyeballs. Le Roux has brought calm assuredness to the position for the Bulls, while the opposite is perhaps true of Gelant after he returned to the Stormers after a stint in France.

At some point, though, his fortunes will change. The same might be able to be said of the Bulls’ fortunes in this matchup.