The 2018 Super Rugby season kicks off this weekend with the South African conference teams playing each other while the New Zealand and Australian conference teams kick off their campaigns next weekend.
The Stormers host the Jaguares in the opening match of the season in Cape Town while last year’s Super Rugby finalists the Lions host the Sharks in Johannesburg.
The fifth team in the South African conference – the Bulls – has the bye this weekend.
Stormers v Jaguares Super Rugby Preview
The Stormers get the honour of opening the 2018 Super Rugby season and they will be playing Argentina’s Jaguares at home in Cape Town at Newlands.
Although it seems the Jaguares have been in Super Rugby for a long time this will only be the third time that the Stormers will be playing the team from
Argentina.
In both of the previous matches the Stormers have beaten the Jaguares. The Stormers have played the Jaguares at home and away and both matches were won
by the South African side.
While the Stormers have never lost to the Jaguares the South American side has picked up losing bonus points in both matches so they have been close results.
At the time of writing neither team had released their line ups but no major selection surprises were expected.
The Bookies have given the a Stormers a 9 point start for this Match
Average score: Stormers 22 Jaguares 16
Last two results
04 Mar 2017 Stormers v Jaguares 32-25 Cape Town
26 Mar 2016 Stormers v Jaguares 13-8 Buenos Aires
Stomers overall record against the Jaguares
Played 2 , Wins 2 , Losses 0, Draws 0
Match Officials
Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant Ref 1:Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant Ref 2:Egon Seconds
TMO : Christie du Preez
Teams
Stormers
15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Kobus van Dyk, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 George Whitehead, 23 JJ Engelbrecht.
Jaguares
15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertanou, 8 Tomas Lezana, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Felipe Arregui
Replacements : To follow.
Lions v Sharks Super Rugby Preview
The 2016 and 2017 Super Rugby finalist the Lions kick off their campaign for 2018 against fellow South African team the Sharks.
The Lions will be playing at home in Johannesburg and this will be the 28th match between the two Super Rugby sides.
In the 27 past matches between the Lions and the Sharks the Johannesburg side have won 9 matches and drawn 2. The other 16 matches were all won by thee Sharks.
While the Sharks have won 59% of the matches between the sides, the last six Super Rugby matches between the teams have all been won by the Lions.
The last Sharks victory was in February 2015 but in the most recent match the Lions won by just two points.
In Johannesburg the Lions have also won the last four matches but overall they have won 43% of their home matches.
The average score when these teams meet in Johannesburg is Lions 24 Sharks 26.
At the time of writing neither team had released their line ups but no major selection surprises were expected.
Average score: Lions 20 Sharks 27
Last five results
22 Jul 2017 Elim Lions v Sharks 23-21 Johannesburg
15 Jul 2017 Lions v Sharks 27-10 Durban
01 Apr 2017 Lions v Sharks 34-29 Johannesburg
02 Jul 2016 Lions v Sharks 37-10 Johannesburg
09 Apr 2016 Lions v Sharks 24-9 Durban
Lions overall record against the Sharks
Played 27 , Wins 9, Losses 16, Draws 2
Match Officials
Referee: Glen Jackson
Assistant Ref 1: AJ Jacobs
Assistant Ref 2:Cwengile Jadezweni
TMO : Marius Jonker
Teams
Lions
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Sylvian Mahuza, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Cyle Brink, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen
Replacements:16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Hacjivah Dayimani, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg
Sharks
15. Lwazi Mvovo, 14. Sbu Nkosi, 13. Lukhanyo Am, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Makazole Mapimpi, 10. Robert du Preez, 9. Cameron Wright, 8. Keegan Daniel, 7. Jacques Vermeulen, 6. Philip van der Walt, 5. Stephan Lewies, 4. Ruan Botha (c), 3. Thomas du Toit, 2. Franco Marais, 1. Juan Schoeman, ,
Replacements: 16. Akker van der Merwe, 17. John-Hubert Meyer, 18. Beast Mtawarira, 19. Hyron Andrews, 20. Daniel du Preez, 21. Michael Claassens, 22. Curwin Bosch, 23. Kobus van Wyk
Bye : Bulls