Cape Town - Former Springbok prop Ollie le Roux believes the Cheetahs will dominate the Stormers at scrum time in their Super Rugby clash at Newlands on Saturday evening.
Le Roux told Volksblad the Cheetahs should have the upper hand with Deon Fourie and Brok Harris starting in the Stormers front row.
He feels loosehead prop Coenie Oosthuizen and hooker Adriaan Strauss could be too much for the Stormers to handle.
While acknowledging that the game may not be won or lost in that department he nevertheless feels it's an area the Cheetahs should target.
"I'll play Frans Malherbe ahead of Brok Harris. I don't rate Harris highly.
"It's an opportunity for Coenie to show what everyone knows he's capable of," said Le Roux.
He did state though that he believes Ootshuizen's future as a Springbok lies at tighthead, but for Saturday's game Harris shouldn't pose him any problems.
Le Roux feels shorter hookers have a disadvantage at scrum time, which should give Strauss the edge over the shorter Fourie. Strauss is 1.85m compared to Fourie's 1,77m.
"He should beat Deon in the scrum battle.
"The Cheetahs should have the upper hand in the scrums but we know the match isn't won there.
"Lineouts and other things also matter," said Le Roux.
The clash at Newlands kicks off at 19:10 on Saturday.
The Stormers currently lie fourth on the overall log with 41 points after nine games, with the Cheetahs in 10th spot on 26 points.
Teams:
Stormers:
15. Joe Pietersen, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Jean De Villiers (captain), 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Peter Grant, 9. Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Nizaam Carr, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Andries Bekker, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16. Tiaan Liebenberg, 17. Frans Malherbe, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Jebb Sinclair, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Burton Francis, 22. Gerhard van den Heever
Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Cameron Jacobs, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Willie le Roux, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Justin Downey, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 George Earle, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen
Substitutes: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Andries Ferreira, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Riaan Smit, 22 Philip Snyman
Le Roux told Volksblad the Cheetahs should have the upper hand with Deon Fourie and Brok Harris starting in the Stormers front row.
He feels loosehead prop Coenie Oosthuizen and hooker Adriaan Strauss could be too much for the Stormers to handle.
While acknowledging that the game may not be won or lost in that department he nevertheless feels it's an area the Cheetahs should target.
"I'll play Frans Malherbe ahead of Brok Harris. I don't rate Harris highly.
"It's an opportunity for Coenie to show what everyone knows he's capable of," said Le Roux.
He did state though that he believes Ootshuizen's future as a Springbok lies at tighthead, but for Saturday's game Harris shouldn't pose him any problems.
Le Roux feels shorter hookers have a disadvantage at scrum time, which should give Strauss the edge over the shorter Fourie. Strauss is 1.85m compared to Fourie's 1,77m.
"He should beat Deon in the scrum battle.
"The Cheetahs should have the upper hand in the scrums but we know the match isn't won there.
"Lineouts and other things also matter," said Le Roux.
The clash at Newlands kicks off at 19:10 on Saturday.
The Stormers currently lie fourth on the overall log with 41 points after nine games, with the Cheetahs in 10th spot on 26 points.
Teams:
Stormers:
15. Joe Pietersen, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Jean De Villiers (captain), 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Peter Grant, 9. Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Nizaam Carr, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Andries Bekker, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16. Tiaan Liebenberg, 17. Frans Malherbe, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Jebb Sinclair, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Burton Francis, 22. Gerhard van den Heever
Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Cameron Jacobs, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Willie le Roux, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Justin Downey, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 George Earle, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen
Substitutes: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Andries Ferreira, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Riaan Smit, 22 Philip Snyman