Stormers’ revenge or Sharks’ repeat? The Five battles that will decide the coastal derby

For 80 minutes on Saturday, the gloves are coming off on the Kings Park battlefield when the Sharks host the Stormers in the return coastal derby in the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Revenge will be on the minds of the Cape side as they look to return to winning ways in the Durban cauldron (5pm kick-off). For the hosts, a rare opportunity presents itself – the chance to win back-to-back matches over the Stormers for the first time in the URC.

We look at five areas that could shape the outcome of the battle.

Lineouts

The Sharks dominated the Stormers in this part of the game and there are probably a couple of players from the visitors that will want to show they are better at lineout time. It was a poor performance on their own throw and the lost balls contributed heavily to last weekend’s loss. However, a few lineout steals worked in the favour of the Cape side.

Right now, the plan for the hosts would be to execute the same or even better than last weekend. Maybe if they do, they can spoil more than the five lineouts that they won from the Stormers. That would put the visitors massively on the backfoot. Expect the Sharks to come out firing when the hookers of the visitors throw the ball in the lineout.

Rolling mauls

It was a feeding frenzy on Saturday, and the Sharks were bullish with their thundering mauls. Normally a good defensive team when it comes to stopping drives off the back of a lineout, the Stormers were overpowered and it allowed the Sharks to score three tries from perfectly executed rolling mauls.

While the men from Cape Town know how to set a drive of their own and they have scored plenty of tries from it, the skew lineouts and overthrows cost them plenty of momentum in this department. But if they can fix their creaky lineouts for the return duel, the maul will be one of the major weapons in their search for a victory.

Defence

Nothing summed up the Sharks’ defensive effort more than captain André Esterhuizen chasing down Stormers winger Leolin Zas down the touchline to haul the speedster in, saving a potential try. That was a telling moment on the defence at the DHL Stadium, and it brought plenty of momentum for the visitors.

The Stormers were solid with their double hits, however, the Sharks found plenty of space out wide, especially early on in the game to pin them in their half with clever kicks. They must up their intensity at Kings Park to halt the dangerous attackers of the home team and to assert their dominance on defence.

Scrums

The Sharks came up with a brilliant plan to stand their man in the scrums against the more fancied Stormers Springbok front row, and they actually found some dominance in the match when Ox Nché replaced Phatu Ganyane on the 30-minute mark. JP Pietersen will likely have another plan to nullify the power of the Cape side this weekend.

Asserting their dominance from the get-go will be atop of the list for the Stormers’ powerful front rankers. While they eventually got the upper hand in the second half, things did not even go in their favour then. They were penalised a couple of times for early shoving and it cost them favourable territory.

Attacking

Both sides possess dangerous individuals that can spark the attack almost at will. However, none of them really lit the field up in Cape Town and there will be extra pressure on them to step up. André Esterhuizen, Ethan Hooker and Aphelele Fassi had limited opportunities, but they will fancy a run in front of their home crowd. Fassi could pose a real threat.

However, if backlines are compared, the Stormers on paper look way more dangerous than their counterparts. With Springboks Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Damian Willemse and Warrick Gelant at the back, they should not struggle to get running. But their backline is not gelling. Durban could be a place to ignite their prowess.