DERBY TIME: Pressure on Stormers as Bulls seek Cape breakthrough

The Vodacom Bulls broke through a frontier when they ended what had become a seven game DHL Stormers winning streak against them last March, but there is another barrier that needs crossing as they head to Cape Town for Saturday’s eagerly awaited north/south derby.

The win at Loftus 11 months ago, the first for the Bulls in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, would have relieved a lot of the pressure on their director of rugby Jake White when it came to clashes with his team’s arch-rivals.

“Dobbo 7 Jake 0” was the kind of chiding White had to put up with both on social media and even in some sections of the mainstream media after the Stormers won the 2023 Christmas derby, so the ecstatic Bulls’ celebrations when they broke that sequence with a comprehensive win in Pretoria were completely understandable. It was a game played in front of a Loftus full house, with White agreeing that was a reflection of the quality of his opponents, who have also won two playoffs against the Bulls in the URC era, and the intensity of the rivalry.

There’s been a break now of almost a year, with the gap being explainable if you note that Saturday’s game was initially scheduled for 21 September last year. It was supposed to be a Round 1 fixture, but was postponed, much to the chagrin of the two coaches, White and John Dobson, because it clashed with the Carling Currie Cup final scheduled for that day.

BIG CROWD EXPECTED

This extra game in a period when South Africa’s top players should be really be in a rest period as the URC goes through a bit of a break while the Guinness Six Nations is being played should be an irritation to both, but one thing the change of schedule would have done is impact positively on the anticipated crowd for this early February game.

While the initial date clashed with the Springbok Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign and fans usually take some time to get into the swing of the new season, Saturday’s game is being played in high season, with interest at a peak, and that is reflected by the fact that in the middle of last week there were already 35 000 tickets sold.

The last time the Stormers hosted a derby was their clash with the Hollywoodbets Sharks between Christmas and New Year and the DHL Stadium was sold out for that, and this week’s game looks likely to provide a similar endorsement of the South African appetite for derbies.

The Stormers beat the Sharks with a late try in an error ridden game that produced a thrilling climax and the interceding game in Cape Town, the Investec Champions Cup clash with the Sale Sharks, also saw a good turnout even though there wasn’t much on it for the hosts, who effectively blew their chances of a strong Champions Cup challenge long before that.

However, while the Stormers enjoy strong support, and played their way back into URC contention with their two derby wins at the end of last year, their failure to return from the Dublin clash with Leinster with any points has reintroduced the pressure they were under in mid-December.

The Bulls have enjoyed only one win over the Stormers at DHL Stadium, and that was in a Rainbow Cup clash during the Covid times in early 2021. They did win a full strength Currie Cup clash against Western Province at Newlands a few months prior to that, with both wins by narrow margins, but those positive results for the Bulls in Cape Town were an anomaly. Before those 2021 wins, they hadn’t experienced success in the city for a decade.

HOSTS HAVE MORE TO LOSE

So there is plenty for the Bulls to aim at, and there’s always pressure when it comes to games against the Stormers. Of course there is an intense rivalry between the Bulls and the Sharks too, but historically it doesn’t quite match the north/south rivalry.

But the Stormers, with just four wins in nine starts in the competition they won in 2022, are the team who can least afford to lose on Saturday. As it is their chances of a top four finish have become very slim, another defeat will push them into a bracket where a top eight finish, signifying playoff and Champions Cup qualification, will be in jeopardy too.

The match is a start of a three match derby sequence that sees them head to Johannesburg the following week to play the Emirates Lions before the return against the Bulls in Pretoria a fortnight after that, so that’s an additional reason they need to win. The Stormers are a different animal at DHL Stadium, as reflected by the fact they haven’t lost there this season, with the two home defeats on their record for the 2024/25 term having come in Stellenbosch (Glasgow Warriors in the URC) and Gqeberha (Toulon in the Champions Cup).

PROUD HOME DERBY RECORD

Indeed, you have to go back to December 2021 to the last time the Stormers lost a home derby, which was against the Emirates Lions. Since then they have won 12 games in a row against fellow South African teams, including the 2022 final and 2023 quarterfinals against the Bulls. It is a proud record, and unless they get to host a local team in a playoff game later in the season, which appears highly unlikely, a win on Saturday will mean they complete a third straight season without losing a home derby.

That’s something to aim for and a carrot dangling for the Stormers, but most of all the pressure they face relates to getting their season back on track after the blips in Paris (Champions Cup) and Dublin (URC). For the Bulls, Saturday is about cementing their place in the top four and adding momentum to their quest for a top two finish. And of course breaking that one barrier they have yet to cross in the URC, which is to win in Cape Town.

Saturday’s game will be the only URC fixture at the weekend but it should attract massive focus.

VODACOM URC ROUND 1 RESCHEDULED FROM SEPTEMBER

DHL Stormers v Vodacom Bulls (Cape Town, Saturday 14.00)