After the Stormers' scrappy win over the Reds at Newlands last Friday, the Newlands faithful will be looking for a vast improvement against the Blues this weekend.The Aucklanders were given a hammering next to none from the Bulls last Saturday and coach Frans Ludeke rightly said, the Blues looked flat on their feet. There was no fluency in their moves and their handling errors would have made a primary school rugby team look good. In their defence though, they did have quite a few top players missing.
But no such luck for the Stormers this weekend. Stalwarts Joe Rockok! oko, Jerome Kaino and Taniela Moa are expected back in the side after paternity leave and injury and will bolster the team significantly. They are still without All Blacks Ali Williams and Anthony Tuitavake but they should still be competitive enough on Saturday. Veteran flanker Justin Collins makes his 100th Super rugby appearance on Saturday.
The Stormers will be focussing on defence this week. Last Friday night was the first time under Rassie Erasmus' leadership that the team conceeded four tries and it must've no doubt given the Cape side's ego a bit of a knock.
However, assistant coach Gary Gold told the Stormers website that the Reds game served as a timely wake-up call for the team so we can expect an improvement in that department.
In terms of team news, there are no injury concerns at this stage apart from fullback Conrad Jantjes who sat out training this week because of muscle stiffness. But he should be fit to tackle the Blues.
Kick off is 19:10.
