Cape Town — An old TV ad used to state ‘Can you stop Duane Vermeulen?’ when the big No 8 rumbles up in trademark fashion.
Well, there are two new No 8s at the Bulls and Stormers these days – Elrigh Louw and Evan Roos – who will go toe-to-toe in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship showdown at Cape Town Stadium (2pm kickoff).
Vermeulen is the man that they are trying to unseat in the Springbok team as well, and whoever comes out on top this weekend will take a huge step forward in trying to convince Bok coach Jacques Nienaber that they should be selected for the Wales Test series in July.
Bulls fans may now be shouting ‘Can you stop Elrigh Louw’ to their Stormers counterparts as he has been outstanding this season, but the Cape team’s captain, Steven Kitshoff, prefers another line…
“Can you stop Evan Roos!” the loosehead prop said with a giggle about the young in-form Stormers loose forward when asked this week if his team can knock over the rampaging Louw.
“He’s a good player (Louw), and we know his strength when it comes to ball-carries. But a big part of our game is gain-line, and backing our defensive structures. I think he is going to come at us, but we are ready for him…”
The match has a lot riding on it, with URC quarter-final spots and qualification for the European Champions Cup up for grabs.
The Stormers are currently sixth on the log with 43 points, just one ahead of the Bulls, with the Sharks eighth on 41, with only four league matches to go.
So, it’s all to play for in the South African Shield this weekend, with the Durban side looking to beat the Lions at Kings Park as well.
And flank Cyle Brink stated this week that revenge is definitely on the minds of the Bulls after they lost 30-26 to the Stormers in Pretoria earlier this year, but Kitshoff was reluctant to get into a war of words.
“We spoke about it (the Bulls wanting revenge) in the week, and we don’t want to play too many mind games,” the Bok front-ranker said.
“It’s all about pitching up on Saturday. If the punches get thrown on a Saturday, it becomes a different story – you can talk as much as you want in the week, but it’s all about how we play on Saturday.”
Ticket prices for the Cape Town Stadium clash have been reduced and start at R50, and it is hoped that a bumper crowd will turn out after the Bulls had over 19 000 people at Loftus Versfeld last week for their win over Ulster.
With 50 percent of the capacity allowed at SA stadiums following a change to the Covid-19 regulations, up to 27 500 spectators can attend the Bulls-Stormers game.
IOL Sport