Harlequins will start as heavy favourites against the Stormers.
Despite the odds being heavily stacked against them, the Stormers back-up brigade will be hunting for a win over English Premiership side Harlequins in their Champions Cup clash at Twickenham Stoop on Saturday night (kick-off 10m).
With a slew of first-choice players unavailable due to injury and concussion, and a few first and second choice players left at home to rest, it is largely a second-string team running out for the struggling Cape Town side in London.
The names ruled out are basically an all-star team themselves, including props Frans Malherbe, Steven Kitshoff and Sti Sithole, loose forwards Deon Fourie and Evan Roos, centre Dan du Plessis, utility backs Damian WIlemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Manie Libbok, and outside back Ben Loader.
Under pressure
Missing that many star players would put almost any team under massive pressure, and the Stormers have been feeling it, having won just two of their seven games in all competitions this season so far.
That included going down 24-14 in their Champions Cup opener against French side Toulon at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha, their home away from home, last weekend.
Harlequins have not been in great form themselves this season, losing three games and winning four in the Premiership, while they also got off to a poor start in the Champions Cup with a 23-12 defeat to French giants Racing 92 in France.
But they will start as heavy favourites against the Stormers, especially being fronted by England maverick Marcus Smith, who has just signed a contract extension at the club until 2028.
Still fighting
Due to their injury crisis and poor form the Stormers would be forgiven for putting all their focus on the United Rugby Championship and just writing off the Champions Cup this season, but assistant coach Norman Laker said it just wasn’t in their DNA to roll over in any competition.
“I’m going to lie to you if I say we’re just going to go to compete. It’s not in our blood or who we are. We’re going to try and get a win,” Laker said earlier this week.
“Everyone is preparing well for it, and we’re looking forward to the game. It’ll be a good test for us, and it isn’t easy going to Europe to get a win, but it’s not impossible. On the day the ball can bounce our side and we can pull off a win.”
The Stormers will take confidence out of the stunning performance by their second-string side against Leicester Tigers in England last year, where Springbok star flyhalf Handre Pollard had to come to the English team’s rescue to secure them a 35-26 win at the death.
So they have almost upset the odds before and they will be going all out to try and do it again, to possibly reignite their season.
