Newlands, Cape Town, 17.05 (15.05 GMT)
The question is burning on every Stormers fan lips: Will the Stormers ever find any sort of consistency, and thus become the side we all know that they could be?
This Saturday is the perfect opportunity to take that first step for the Cape Town side – the Blues victory was fantastic, and now they face the lowly Reds in their traditionally weak weekend just after a great win.
It is an opportunity to prove to themselves that they can win consistently.
The Reds meanwhile, despite having an utterly woeful season, have been bouyed by their second victory of the season against the Cheetahs last weekend, and they will definitely be in the mood for a scrap at Newlands.
Stormers coach Kobus van der Merwe has warned that the Reds are not to be under-estimated.
“The Cheetahs under-estimated them, and attempted to run all their ball, which led to their loss.
“There is no doubt that the Reds can play, and we will have to stick to our structures to put ourselves in a position to beat them.”
The Stormers, it seems, may finally have found their best combination, with the inclusion of Ross Skeate at lock, Peter Grant at fly-half, and Brent Russell on the wing.
Their front row also stood up under the scrutiny of the powerful Blues.
If they match the Reds upfront, and Luke Watson and Schalk Burger get going on the loose ball, the Stormers have it in them to crush this below-par Reds side, and they have stated they are hungry to end in the top half of the table. A full house of points this weekend will go a long way towards that.
Eddie Jones will meanwhile be hoping is young backs finally find their feet, and his second-string front row finds some underdog fire in their bellies. Add the fiery enthusiasm of fetcher David Croft to the mix and they could compete.
Prediction: The Stormers should show their worth this weekend, but one can never really predict a match with them involved, but we will have a bash, it’s the Stormers by more than fifteen.
Stormers: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Breyton Paulse, 13 Jean De Villiers, 12 De Wet Barry, 11 Brent Russell, 10 Peter Grant, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Joe Van Niekerk, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Luke Watson (c), 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Gerrie Britz, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 JD Moller
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Eddie Andrews, 19 Francois Van Der Merwe, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Corne Uys
Reds: TBC
Touch judges: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand), Pro Legoete (South Africa)
Television match official: Sean Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor: Brendan McCormick
