After difficult trips to the icy northern hemisphere winter to play Vodacom United Rugby Championship matches last week, the third round of the Heineken Champions Cup gives two South African sides a chance to reverse the cross-hemisphere advantage on their opponents.
Bordeaux-Begles will be trading the northern winter for the humidity of HollwoodBets Kings Park for a game which the Sharks hope to use to clinch their place in the round of 16 with an away trip to Harlequins at the Stoop still to come. Exeter Chiefs will for the first time be experiencing the challenge of playing at altitude when they come to Pretoria to play the Bulls on Saturday night.
Although the teams will only be announced later on Friday as per Champions Cup protocol, they should be at full-strength, which will be welcomed at this time when some games get different treatment because of the travel challenge that comes with a competition that is played on different continents and in different hemispheres.
While the Sharks and Bulls are at home, the Stormers should feel a bit more comfortable after acclimatising for a week after their narrow defeat to Glasgow Warriors in the URC ahead of their return clash with London Irish at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The Sharks are in the best position of the South African teams after two wins, but for the Bulls and Stormers two wins will be a big step towards round of 16 qualification. That is particularly so for the Stormers if you consider they play at home the following week.
SOUTH AFRICAN GAMES IN THIS ROUND OF HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP
Cell C Sharks v Bordeaux-Begles (Durban, Saturday 5.15pm)
Sharks prop Thomas du Toit said it this week – after being spared the journey to Galway last week, the team that goes out to clinch a place in the round of 16 owes both the coaches and the Durban public a good performance. They will probably provide it too, for although the team will only be named on Friday afternoon, Siya Kolisi is expected to be back to lead.
Also back to play should be the man who is fast becoming the Sharks’ MVP when they are at full strength, Eben Etzebeth, as well as Lukhanyo Am, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche, Du Toit himself and a clutch of other Springboks, along with other first-choice players such as flyhalf Curwin Bosch.
The French teams are usually really difficult to beat at home, where Du Toit says the Sharks got an experience in the first-round game of how the crowds energise them. Seeing that the Durbanites won a close game in Bordeaux on that trip, they should be expected to win this one, and with something to spare. The win over the Bulls was the benchmark the Sharks should be aspiring to in their home games.
Prediction: Sharks to win by 10
Vodacom Bulls v Exeter Chiefs (Pretoria, Saturday 7.30pm)
The big news of the week at Loftus has been the condition of the Bulls’ director of rugby Jake White, who was rushed to hospital for an emergency procedure after returning from the trip to Wales for the URC match against the Dragons, which he missed because he fell ill.
The good news is that White has recovered sufficiently to attend Saturday’s game, or at least he wants to, although the Bulls have given him off until 8 February.
Chris Rossouw was the stand-in head coach at Newport’s Rodney Parade ground last week, where the Bulls won well, and is likely to be again. It is going to be a much tougher game this time though, even though the Bulls are at home. Exeter made it clear during the week they are coming to South Africa to win, and are likely to name a strong team later on Friday.
The Chiefs trampled all over an under-strength Bulls team when they met just over a week before Christmas, so the Bulls will want to show their true credentials in this game, and have said as much. The team will be named later but should be at full strength as they bid for the win that will put them in a strong position to clinch the last-16 spot with the final Pool away trip to Lyon to come.
Prediction: Exeter Chiefs to win close game.
London Irish v DHL Stormers (London, Sunday 3pm)
The Stormers will be aiming to do what Liverpool failed to do on a Premier League visit to Sunday’s venue to play Brentford Football Club, who own the Gtech Community Stadium. Liverpool started favourites then, but it is not clear who is really favoured in this rugby game, with quite a bit probably depending on how the Stormers approach it, which will be telegraphed by their selection later on Friday.
Stormers coach John Dobson did say before departure that what happens away against London Irish is less significant than next week’s home game against Clermont-Auvergne, the team that beat them in the first round. However, last Sunday’s last-gasp defeat to the Glasgow Warriors should have upped the ante for the Cape team, as it is a long time since they lost two in a row. That means when it does happen it can dent confidence.
With a tough away URC clash with Ulster to come, and a debate sure to be had over how that game should be approached given the travel challenge, the Stormers will be wanting to prove that they have taken aboard what they spoke about after the game in Scotstoun – the need to close out that kind of game when they get into winning positions. The Stormers haven’t played badly in their overseas games, but they have conspired against themselves and need to stop doing that.
Prediction: Stormers to sneak a close win.
THE OTHER WEEKEND HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP FIXTURES:
Clermont-Auvergne v Leicester Tigers (Friday, 10pm)
Gloucester v Leinster (Saturday, 3pm)
Sale Sharks v Toulouse (Saturday, 3pm)
Munster v Northampton Saints (Saturday, 5.15pm)
LaRochelle v Ulster (Saturday, 7.30pm)
Ospreys v Montpellier (Saturday, 10pm)
Saracens v Lyon (Saturday, 10pm)
Castres v Edinburgh (Sunday, 3pm)
Racing 92 v Harlequins (Sunday, 5.15pm)
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