Cape Town — Western Province Rugby should do everything in their power to ensure that Cape Town Stadium's playing surface is up to standard so that the Stormers and Bulls can entertain in their United Rugby Championship quarter-final on Saturday.
The Currie Cup encounter between Western Province and the Blue Bulls at the weekend was played on a patchy pitch that had the backs and forwards alike slipping and sliding.
The Bulls stopped short of complaining about the muddy underfoot conditions as they lost comprehensively by 31-7, but there was a sense that if there was a little more grass under the feet of guys like Kurt-Lee Arendse the score might have been a bit more different.
It's especially the one corner on the right-hand side of the stadium towards the south stand that's of concern.
The sandy area covered almost half of the 22m area between the 15-meter line from touch towards the in-goal area. A patch was also visible almost on the halfway line where the flyhalf kicks-off from.
That made it very difficult for the teams to keep their footing in that part of the field. Arendse had a slip in that specific part of the field in the Currie Cup match, which led to a good field position for Province.
It's one spot that the Bulls will definitely point out as a problem area that can be a concern in the URC quarter-final.
But not just that, more than 20 000 tickets have already been sold for the clash and it's still early in the week. It's expected that well over 30 000 people will pack into Cape Town Stadium for another epic encounter between the two arch-rivals.
But the buzz in the stadium that is expected, will most likely be significantly dampened if the two teams cannot dish up the exciting rugby they have been playing to get to the playoffs.
The two teams have been playing some good running rugby, but that will be made difficult if the sandpit is not sorted as soon as possible.
No one, except maybe for the odd Stormers fan, wants to see Arendse or wing Canan Moodie slipping about when they are looking to counterattack after fielding a wayward kick from the Stormers.
Equally, spectators want a showing from flyhalf Manie Libbok, fullback Damian Willemse and wing Seabelo Senatla with their quick feet and eye for a gap.
Those patches also do not bode well for the expected scrum battle. With an all-Springbok front row, the Stormers have been struggling to get the returns in the scrum, especially at home, and hopefully, on Saturday a few good scrums will be completed.
It's a platform both teams have utilised to good effect and they will look to continue doing so.
The Stormers have managed to cope a lot better scrumming on their home turf, but the Bulls will hope they can find their feet to make it a good contest.
IOL Sport