Super Rugby 2013: Stormers v Chiefs preview

The Stormers will face the reigning Super Rugby champions, The Chiefs, in Cape Town on Saturday, 9 March 2013.

The Stormers will field an unchanged starting XV from last week’s titanic battle against the Sharks, which the Stormers lost 12-6.

Tiaan Liebenberg does make his way back from injury, but takes his place on the bench, while Dewaldt Duvenhage also moves in the reserves list.

“We’ve gone with an unchanged team because it’s important to keep backing the players,” said Coetzee on Wednesday. “I don’t see any reason to change the situation and this weekend hopefully they will continue to show improvement.”

The Chiefs on the other hand have made a number of changes, with Mahonri Schwalger  starting at hooker, Lamiter at number 6, Craig Clarke at lock and Messam shifting to the back of the scrum.

Charlie Ngatai starts at inside centre, taking over from Bundee Aki, who had a strong game against the Cheetahs.

Hika Elliot, Augustine Pulu and Andrew Horrell line the bench alongside Ben Tameifuna, Michael Fitzgerald, Nick Crosswell and Patrick Osborne.

The Chiefs showed exactly why they were champions last year, and look like the 2013 title is in their sights. The Stormers will be revelling from their loss the Sharks, and have to tough opponent to bounce back against.

Rugby Informer’s take: as mentioned above, the Stormers have an uphill battle on Saturday evening, and the Chiefs aren’t going to make it easy for them. Chiefs by 10.

Stormers team:

15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 De Kock Steenkamp, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Don Armand, 19 Nizaam Carr, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 Peter Grant, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.

Chiefs team:

15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Tim Nanai-Williams, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Liam Messam, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Tanerau Latimer, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Craig Clarke (captain), 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Ben Tameifuna, 18 Michael Fitzgerald, 19 Nick Crosswell, 20 Augustine Pulu, 21 Andrew Horrell, 22 Patrick Osborne.