Last time a team from Cape Town visited Kings Park they left with the Currie Cup

Last time a team from Cape Town visited Kings Park they left with the Currie Cup although a more pertinent argument could be that when the Sharks and Stormers last met in a Super Rugby match, the Durbanites shocked Newlands by winning a place in the 2012 final at the cost of the SA conference winners.

Two coaches John Plumtree and Allister Coetzee, neither result will have any relevance come kick-off at 7pm tomorrow night apart from what they learned about the teams in those matches and have attempted to exploit or rectify in training.

For one thing, the Sharks have been working on their lineout ever since Western Province destroyed it at will last October, and it was much improved last weekend in Bloemfontein. Plumtree said lessons were learned but laughed off suggestions that the Sharks were in the mood for vengeance.

“It still hurts me, but it has no relevance to this contest,” Plumtree smiled. “The media love making a big thing of revenge, but it means nothing to us and has not come up in team talks. Hopefully later in the year we’ll have the opportunity to win the Currie Cup back, but right now our focus is on this game, as will theirs.

“Yes teams analyse each other all the time and they’ll have their objectives for the weekend, just like us. This is a big derby game and I’m sure everyone is looking forward to it,” the coach said.

Despite the coaches writing off history as irrelevant, the Stormers will not have forgotten the pain of losing the semi-final at home to the Sharks after having done the hard yards by winning the conference while the Sharks players were horrified to be upset in the Currie Cup final in Durban.

The bottom line to be taken from both those matches is that the winner is usually the team that mentally pitches on the day and that home ground advantage is meaningless if taken for granted.

History does tell us one thing, though. Early round games in Durban are almost always tight affairs and seldom yield a try-scoring bonus point because conditions are not conducive to running rugby. It either rains or is so humid it might as well be raining. In the last 30 matches played in February or March in Durban, on only eight occasions has a team scored four tries or more.

Sharks fans will thus be cheered by the form of goal kicker Patrick Lambie, who struck a sweet seven from seven last week against the Cheetahs while his opposite number tomorrow, Elton Jantjies, was off form both with the boot and in general play in the defeat to the Bulls.

Jantjies has been retained this week ahead of Peter Grant, who is on the bench this week following his return last week from Japan.

“It does not matter to us which of them is at 10 because both have hurt us before,” Plumtree acknowledged. The coach is alluding to some telling performances by Jantjies for his old team, the Lions, while Grant has often played well in taking the ball to the line against the Sharks.

In fact that is one of the big differences between the two Stormers’ flyhalves. Last week against the Bulls, Jantjies played too deep for his backline to be effective, and that is something that will have been noted by both coaches. Grant always plays a strong attacking game.

Plumtree said his team would have to improve at the breakdown this week, while Jean Deysel’s inclusion at loose forward for Jacques Botes gives them an extra option at lineout time.

“The Stormers hit you hard, so you need to make sure you maintain possession when they do,” said Plumtree. “We’ve worked on that in training, it’s a big focus, we need to keep the ball.”

Coetzee was not shy to talk up the hosts: “The Sharks will always be a quality side. We said right from the start that it would be a tough start for us this season – playing two games away from home and playing three of the best franchises first up (they have the Chiefs next week).

“The Sharks aren’t the favourites for nothing. They are playing well, they are coming off a good win over the Cheetahs, they have a good squad and certain players are already on song.”

Sharks: Louis Ludik, JP Pietersen, Paul Jordaan, Frans Steyn (capt), Lwazi Mvovo, Patrick Lambie, Cobus Reinach, Ryan Kankowski, Jean Deysel, Marcell Coetzee, Franco van der Merwe, Anton Bresler, Jannie du Plessis, Craig Burden, Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements: Kyle Cooper, Wiehahn Herbst, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jacques Botes, Charl McLeod, Meyer Bosman, Odwa Ndungane.

Stormers: Joe Pietersen, Gio Aplon, Jean de Villiers (capt), Damian de Allende, Bryan Habana, Elton Jantjies, Nic Groom, Duane Vermeulen, Rynhardt Elstadt, Siya Kolisi, Andries Bekker, De Kock Steenkamp, Frans Malherbe, Deon Fourie, Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: Martin Bezuidenhout, Pat Cilliers, Don Armand, Nizaam Carr, Louis Schreuder, Peter Grant, Gerhard van den Heever.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan.

by Mike Greenaway