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Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
So now we know … the Bulls ‘B’ side isn’t a match for a full-strength Stormers XV.
Only the most arrogant of Bulls supporters – and let’s face it, all teams have at least a few who harbour that mindset – would have believed before last Saturday’s Vodacom Super 14 meeting at Newlands that the hosts would somehow be eclipsed by the second-stringers from Pretoria.
Four tries to (a very late consolation) one and a final score of 38-10 told you everything you needed to know, really, as the Stormers duly secured their own passage to this week’s semi-finals.
Still, a senior colleague from our News24 division raised an interesting point with me in the lift the other day: what if the roles had been reversed in every respect?
In other words, what if the Stormers had been the home and dry ones, topping the table by a distance and boasting the luxury of fielding their “reserve” side for a final league outing against the semis-seeking Bulls … and at Loftus, nogal?
I admit I walked away fascinated by the prospect, and weighing up in my own mind the line-ups for the phantom occasion and what the scoreboard might look like after 80 minutes.
For the not hugely much it matters, I came to the conclusion that the Bulls at optimum strength would probably give the Stormers ‘B’ outfit a bigger hiding than occurred in the real “vice versa” encounter -- suggesting simultaneously that at Loftus still lies the best depth in any South African Super 14 franchise.
Now it might not be as bad as the record 75-14 scoreline in 2005 (both teams at full strength then) that still gives diehard Stormers fans sleepless nights, but a 40 or 50-point margin would be pretty feasible.
Using Springbok caps tends to be a reasonably decent yardstick, and the Bulls ‘B” side that succumbed at Newlands – they were whipped but also hardly disgraced the light-blue jersey – still contained six players with either Bok Test or at least tourist status: Bakkies Botha, Bandise Maku and Pedrie Wannenburg among the pack and Heini Adams, De Wet Barry and Jaco van der Westhuyzen in the backline.
The Stormers ‘B” outfit I have cobbled together would probably only boast one Springbok, by contrast, in the form of combative scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, presently playing second fiddle at Newlands to Dewaldt Duvenage but still the possessor of some known strengths and an ability to get beneath opponents’ skins.
At full strength, of course, the Bulls team would boast a double-figure tally of internationals, many of them Test legends.
A Stormers ‘B’ backline would, nevertheless, not lack first-class experience, with two ex-Bulls in Frikkie Welsh and Dylan Des Fountain and other crusty combatants in Fabian Juries, that unpredictable battering ram Sireli Naqelevuki and Willem de Waal.
It’s in the engine room where the team would probably take a gradual pounding, despite the presence of exemplary professionals like Anton van Zyl and Pieter Louw, either of whom might be entrusted with Stormers leadership for the rather unenviable encounter.
I would suggest that the department where the Stormers, as a whole, presently most labour for proven, battle-hardened depth is at loose forward, where the afore-mentioned Louw is the only really credible standby option should any of Schalk Burger, Francois Louw or Duane Vermeulen suddenly get crocked.
Nick Koster has great promise but his development has been delayed thus far by a long-term injury and the experiment of playing him at wing.
Please note that my Stormers ‘B’ combo did not take into account players like JC Kritzinger, Morgan Newman and Conrad Jantjes, who are either out injured or in cautious comeback mode and thus not quite ready for a game of this nature.
For the record, this is roughly what the sides might look like if picked under current circumstances:
Bulls
15 Zane Kirchner 14 Gerhard van den Heever (back from suspension next week) 13 Jaco Pretorius 12 Wynand Olivier 11 Francois Hougaard 10 Morne Steyn 9 Fourie du Preez 8 Pierre Spies 7 Dewald Potgieter 6 Deon Stegmann 5 Victor Matfield 4 Danie Rossouw 3 Werner Kruger 2 Gary Botha 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Stormers ‘B’
15 Fabian Juries 14 Sireli Naqelevuki 13 Frikkie Welsh 12 Tim Whitehead 11 Dylan Des Fountain 10 Willem de Waal 9 Ricky Januarie 8 Nick Koster 7 Yaya Hartzenberg 6 Pieter Louw 5 Anton van Zyl 4 De Kock Steenkamp 3 Eusebio Guinazu 2 Deon Fourie 1 JD Moller.
So now we know … the Bulls ‘B’ side isn’t a match for a full-strength Stormers XV.
Only the most arrogant of Bulls supporters – and let’s face it, all teams have at least a few who harbour that mindset – would have believed before last Saturday’s Vodacom Super 14 meeting at Newlands that the hosts would somehow be eclipsed by the second-stringers from Pretoria.
Four tries to (a very late consolation) one and a final score of 38-10 told you everything you needed to know, really, as the Stormers duly secured their own passage to this week’s semi-finals.
Still, a senior colleague from our News24 division raised an interesting point with me in the lift the other day: what if the roles had been reversed in every respect?
In other words, what if the Stormers had been the home and dry ones, topping the table by a distance and boasting the luxury of fielding their “reserve” side for a final league outing against the semis-seeking Bulls … and at Loftus, nogal?
I admit I walked away fascinated by the prospect, and weighing up in my own mind the line-ups for the phantom occasion and what the scoreboard might look like after 80 minutes.
For the not hugely much it matters, I came to the conclusion that the Bulls at optimum strength would probably give the Stormers ‘B’ outfit a bigger hiding than occurred in the real “vice versa” encounter -- suggesting simultaneously that at Loftus still lies the best depth in any South African Super 14 franchise.
Now it might not be as bad as the record 75-14 scoreline in 2005 (both teams at full strength then) that still gives diehard Stormers fans sleepless nights, but a 40 or 50-point margin would be pretty feasible.
Using Springbok caps tends to be a reasonably decent yardstick, and the Bulls ‘B” side that succumbed at Newlands – they were whipped but also hardly disgraced the light-blue jersey – still contained six players with either Bok Test or at least tourist status: Bakkies Botha, Bandise Maku and Pedrie Wannenburg among the pack and Heini Adams, De Wet Barry and Jaco van der Westhuyzen in the backline.
The Stormers ‘B” outfit I have cobbled together would probably only boast one Springbok, by contrast, in the form of combative scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, presently playing second fiddle at Newlands to Dewaldt Duvenage but still the possessor of some known strengths and an ability to get beneath opponents’ skins.
At full strength, of course, the Bulls team would boast a double-figure tally of internationals, many of them Test legends.
A Stormers ‘B’ backline would, nevertheless, not lack first-class experience, with two ex-Bulls in Frikkie Welsh and Dylan Des Fountain and other crusty combatants in Fabian Juries, that unpredictable battering ram Sireli Naqelevuki and Willem de Waal.
It’s in the engine room where the team would probably take a gradual pounding, despite the presence of exemplary professionals like Anton van Zyl and Pieter Louw, either of whom might be entrusted with Stormers leadership for the rather unenviable encounter.
I would suggest that the department where the Stormers, as a whole, presently most labour for proven, battle-hardened depth is at loose forward, where the afore-mentioned Louw is the only really credible standby option should any of Schalk Burger, Francois Louw or Duane Vermeulen suddenly get crocked.
Nick Koster has great promise but his development has been delayed thus far by a long-term injury and the experiment of playing him at wing.
Please note that my Stormers ‘B’ combo did not take into account players like JC Kritzinger, Morgan Newman and Conrad Jantjes, who are either out injured or in cautious comeback mode and thus not quite ready for a game of this nature.
For the record, this is roughly what the sides might look like if picked under current circumstances:
Bulls
15 Zane Kirchner 14 Gerhard van den Heever (back from suspension next week) 13 Jaco Pretorius 12 Wynand Olivier 11 Francois Hougaard 10 Morne Steyn 9 Fourie du Preez 8 Pierre Spies 7 Dewald Potgieter 6 Deon Stegmann 5 Victor Matfield 4 Danie Rossouw 3 Werner Kruger 2 Gary Botha 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Stormers ‘B’
15 Fabian Juries 14 Sireli Naqelevuki 13 Frikkie Welsh 12 Tim Whitehead 11 Dylan Des Fountain 10 Willem de Waal 9 Ricky Januarie 8 Nick Koster 7 Yaya Hartzenberg 6 Pieter Louw 5 Anton van Zyl 4 De Kock Steenkamp 3 Eusebio Guinazu 2 Deon Fourie 1 JD Moller.
