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Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – Deservedly beaten by the Bulls in their high-stakes Super Rugby meeting at Newlands on Saturday, the Stormers nevertheless managed to inch a little closer to a potentially favourable run of fixtures in the playoffs phase.
Producing their most fluid and urgent rugby in the last few minutes of a nervy, grinding encounter with the gutsy defending champions, Schalk Burger’s men clawed their way to a losing bonus point in a 19-16 reverse, which effectively assured them of victory in the South African conference with one round of matches to go.
Had they not achieved that point, in a match where they never held the lead, then the possibility would still have existed of the Loftus-based outfit pipping them to conference supremacy if they were to beat the Sharks with a “full house” in Pretoria next weekend and the Stormers get nothing out of their date with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
That scenario, albeit unlikely, would see the great north-south rivals end level on 58 log points, and 11 victories each, but the Stormers have a far superior “for and against” which would surely prove decisive.
So third overall is the very worst the Stormers can finish, given the stipulation that all three conference winners occupy the top trio of positions, come what may.
And they still retain second berth overall at present anyway, four points behind the Reds who have 62 points.
Just beating the Cheetahs on Saturday night – the very last “league” fixture this season, so they’ll know exactly what they need to do – will be enough now to guarantee the Stormers at least second place on the overall table.
Even if they fail to win with a bonus point, they would end above the currently third-placed Crusaders (who end their programme in Wellington against the Hurricanes) because they would have won more matches, a deciding factor if teams are level on points.
The Stormers, while resilient enough in the nail-biting loss the Bulls, may subconsciously have been feeling the effects of travelling back only a few days earlier from their four-game overseas tour.
But captain Burger and coach Allister Coetzee are sure to gee up their charges by drumming into them the critical importance of knocking over the Cheetahs in yet another of these bruising South African derbies – a win would automatically give them a desperately-needed bye weekend in the first round of the finals series and a guaranteed home semi-final into the bargain.
And if the Stormers can do it with a bonus point as well, there is even the outside prospect of still topping the overall table, as long as the Reds trip up in their away encounter with the Chiefs – not out of the question as they have lost some lustre of late.
Meanwhile, in terms of the playoffs picture more broadly, there are now seven teams fighting to fill the six berths, with the Highlanders finally out of the equation altogether and the Waratahs the side presently placed just outside the “cut” but only one point adrift of the Bulls and Sharks, who lie and fifth and sixth respectively and level on 53 points (the Bulls boast one more win).
The Sydney-based franchise will be gratified, of course, by these two South African sides playing each other, and be aware that victory in their own Aussie derby against the Brumbies with therefore see them sneak up at least one crucial notch and keep their candle burning in the competition.
But should the Brumbies, playing only for pride, upset the Waratahs in their own backyard, then it is still possible for all three remaining South African contenders to make the playoffs, regardless of the outcome at Loftus.
Still, smart money suggests that the SANZAR bosses will be smiling, in the maiden season of the revamped competition, because a pair of teams from each alliance partner is the likeliest prospect for the inaugural finals series ...
Next weekend’s final round of league fixtures (home teams first):
Friday: Blues v Highlanders, Rebels v Force. Saturday: Chiefs v Reds, Hurricanes v Crusaders, Waratahs v Brumbies, Bulls v Sharks, Cheetahs v Stormers. Bye: Lions.
Cape Town – Deservedly beaten by the Bulls in their high-stakes Super Rugby meeting at Newlands on Saturday, the Stormers nevertheless managed to inch a little closer to a potentially favourable run of fixtures in the playoffs phase.
Producing their most fluid and urgent rugby in the last few minutes of a nervy, grinding encounter with the gutsy defending champions, Schalk Burger’s men clawed their way to a losing bonus point in a 19-16 reverse, which effectively assured them of victory in the South African conference with one round of matches to go.
Had they not achieved that point, in a match where they never held the lead, then the possibility would still have existed of the Loftus-based outfit pipping them to conference supremacy if they were to beat the Sharks with a “full house” in Pretoria next weekend and the Stormers get nothing out of their date with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
That scenario, albeit unlikely, would see the great north-south rivals end level on 58 log points, and 11 victories each, but the Stormers have a far superior “for and against” which would surely prove decisive.
So third overall is the very worst the Stormers can finish, given the stipulation that all three conference winners occupy the top trio of positions, come what may.
And they still retain second berth overall at present anyway, four points behind the Reds who have 62 points.
Just beating the Cheetahs on Saturday night – the very last “league” fixture this season, so they’ll know exactly what they need to do – will be enough now to guarantee the Stormers at least second place on the overall table.
Even if they fail to win with a bonus point, they would end above the currently third-placed Crusaders (who end their programme in Wellington against the Hurricanes) because they would have won more matches, a deciding factor if teams are level on points.
The Stormers, while resilient enough in the nail-biting loss the Bulls, may subconsciously have been feeling the effects of travelling back only a few days earlier from their four-game overseas tour.
But captain Burger and coach Allister Coetzee are sure to gee up their charges by drumming into them the critical importance of knocking over the Cheetahs in yet another of these bruising South African derbies – a win would automatically give them a desperately-needed bye weekend in the first round of the finals series and a guaranteed home semi-final into the bargain.
And if the Stormers can do it with a bonus point as well, there is even the outside prospect of still topping the overall table, as long as the Reds trip up in their away encounter with the Chiefs – not out of the question as they have lost some lustre of late.
Meanwhile, in terms of the playoffs picture more broadly, there are now seven teams fighting to fill the six berths, with the Highlanders finally out of the equation altogether and the Waratahs the side presently placed just outside the “cut” but only one point adrift of the Bulls and Sharks, who lie and fifth and sixth respectively and level on 53 points (the Bulls boast one more win).
The Sydney-based franchise will be gratified, of course, by these two South African sides playing each other, and be aware that victory in their own Aussie derby against the Brumbies with therefore see them sneak up at least one crucial notch and keep their candle burning in the competition.
But should the Brumbies, playing only for pride, upset the Waratahs in their own backyard, then it is still possible for all three remaining South African contenders to make the playoffs, regardless of the outcome at Loftus.
Still, smart money suggests that the SANZAR bosses will be smiling, in the maiden season of the revamped competition, because a pair of teams from each alliance partner is the likeliest prospect for the inaugural finals series ...
Next weekend’s final round of league fixtures (home teams first):
Friday: Blues v Highlanders, Rebels v Force. Saturday: Chiefs v Reds, Hurricanes v Crusaders, Waratahs v Brumbies, Bulls v Sharks, Cheetahs v Stormers. Bye: Lions.
