It’s been nearly six years since the Hurricanes last won in Cape Town and if the DHL Stormers have their way, the team from New Zealand’s capital will keep on feeling the heat at DHL Newlands.
On 11 March 2006 the ‘Canes won 23-19, but since then the DHL Stormers have improved dramatically, reaching the Vodacom Super Rugby final in 2010 and winning the South African conference last year.
But that doesn’t guarantee anything and DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee is well aware that his team needs to hit the ground running if they are going to replicate their feats of the last two years.
“The Hurricanes have always been a team with good open field runners and counter-attacking capabilities. They live of turn-overs, but I also think (Hurricanes coach) Mark Hammett has brought more structure to their play since taking over last year, so we’re expecting much-improved set piece from them,” said Coetzee.
“This game will be a huge challenge in all aspects. It’s the start of the season and our aims are to get a fair share of the possession, play in the right areas on the field and take our scoring opportunities. It’s exciting that the competition is finally starting. It will be highly competitive in all departments.”
The history between these two sides is very even, with the DHL Stormers ahead by 7-6 in matches played. The figure is very similar for encounters played at DHL Newlands, where the home team has won four of the previous seven matches in Cape Town.
DHL Stormers vs Hurricanes
- Date: Saturday, 25 February 2012
- SA time: 17:05
- Venue: DHL Newlands, Cape Town
- Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
- Assistant referees: Stuart Berry (South Africa), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
- Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
All the fixtures this weekend (SA times):
- Friday, 24 February at 19:10: Vodacom Bulls vs The Sharks
- Friday, 24 February at 08:35: Blues vs Crusaders (Auckland)
- Friday, 24 February at 10:40: Brumbies vs Force (Canberra)
- Saturday, 25 February at 08:35: Chiefs vs Highlanders (Hamilton)
- Saturday, 25 February at 10:40: Waratahs vs Reds (Sydney)
- Saturday, 25 February at 17:05: DHL Stormers vs Hurricanes
- Saturday, 25 February at 19:10: MTN Lions vs Toyota Cheetahs
