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Cape Town - The Stormers are now assured of a home semi-final in this year's Super Rugby competition after the Brumbies stumbled against the Blues in Canberra on Saturday.
Jake White's Brumbies were still in with a shot of claiming second spot on the overall log ahead of the Capetionians. Had they claimed five points against the Blues and the Stormers lost badly in their game against the Rebels, they would have pipped the Stormers into second spot.
But a shock 30-16 loss to the lowly Blues sees them now face the possibility of falling out of the knockout phases altogether.
Should the Reds claim five points against the Waratahs in Brisbane later on Saturday, they'll edge past White's team into first spot in the Australian Conference. And five-point wins for the Bulls (vs Lions), Sharks (vs Cheetahs) and Crusaders (v Force) would see the Brumbies miss out on a top six spot and a subsequent playoff game.
These above scenarios are highly likely which would be tough for White and his team to take after they topped the Australian conference for most of the regular season.
The Stormers on the other hand won't be satisfied with just a home semi-final. Jean de Villiers's charges play the Rebels at Newlands (15:00 kick-off) on Saturday and a victory would see them top the overall log, and a home final should they win their semi-final.
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 Deon Fourie, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Brok Harris, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Quinn Roux, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gerhard van den Heever
Rebels:
15. Julian Huxley, 14. Mark Gerrard, 13. Mitch Inman, 12. Stirling Mortlock (captain), 11. Cooper Vuna, 10. James Hilgendorf, 9. Nick Phipps, 8. Gareth Delve, 7. Hugh Perrett, 6. Tim Davidson, 5. Hugh Pyle, 4. Cadeyrn Neville, 3. Jono Owen, 2. Ged Robinson, 1. Rodney Blake
Substitutes: 16. Luke Holmes, 17. Paul Alo-Emile, 18. Alister Campbell, 19. Ryan Hodson, 20. Nick Stirzaker, 21. Lachlan Mitchell, 22. Richard Kingi
Jake White's Brumbies were still in with a shot of claiming second spot on the overall log ahead of the Capetionians. Had they claimed five points against the Blues and the Stormers lost badly in their game against the Rebels, they would have pipped the Stormers into second spot.
But a shock 30-16 loss to the lowly Blues sees them now face the possibility of falling out of the knockout phases altogether.
Should the Reds claim five points against the Waratahs in Brisbane later on Saturday, they'll edge past White's team into first spot in the Australian Conference. And five-point wins for the Bulls (vs Lions), Sharks (vs Cheetahs) and Crusaders (v Force) would see the Brumbies miss out on a top six spot and a subsequent playoff game.
These above scenarios are highly likely which would be tough for White and his team to take after they topped the Australian conference for most of the regular season.
The Stormers on the other hand won't be satisfied with just a home semi-final. Jean de Villiers's charges play the Rebels at Newlands (15:00 kick-off) on Saturday and a victory would see them top the overall log, and a home final should they win their semi-final.
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 Deon Fourie, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Brok Harris, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Quinn Roux, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gerhard van den Heever
Rebels:
15. Julian Huxley, 14. Mark Gerrard, 13. Mitch Inman, 12. Stirling Mortlock (captain), 11. Cooper Vuna, 10. James Hilgendorf, 9. Nick Phipps, 8. Gareth Delve, 7. Hugh Perrett, 6. Tim Davidson, 5. Hugh Pyle, 4. Cadeyrn Neville, 3. Jono Owen, 2. Ged Robinson, 1. Rodney Blake
Substitutes: 16. Luke Holmes, 17. Paul Alo-Emile, 18. Alister Campbell, 19. Ryan Hodson, 20. Nick Stirzaker, 21. Lachlan Mitchell, 22. Richard Kingi
