It isn’t a straight matchup, but the performances of Evan Roos and Cameron Hanekom at No 8 for the Stormers and Bulls respectively at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday is one of the most appealing in this crunch United Rugby Championship local derby.
South Africa’s two fiercest adversaries in the north versus south rivalry were meant to play each other in the opening round of this season’s URC. The postponement was to accommodate the Currie Cup final and Saturday’s ‘make-up’ match is the only URC fixture this weekend.
What a game though in which to have URC exclusivity, in terms of eyeballs, for Saturday.
The Bulls are six wins from eight and have form in the league. The Stormers, champions in the inaugural season and beaten finalists in the second season, are four wins from nine matches and up against it with injuries to virtually their entire starting back division.
The Stormers are comfortably the best supported team in South Africa when it comes to stadium attendance and they are also among the top two in the URC.
The loss of Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff, who returned to Cape Town after a season with Ulster, has compounded the match-day depth, as has the injury loss of lock JD Schickerling.
The Bulls are not without their injury woes. Lock and captain Ruan Nortje is out, so too Springbok loose-forward Elrigh Louw and veteran flyhalf Johan Goosen. Springbok winger Kurt-Lee Arendse is playing in Japan as part of his Bulls contract.
But what this week has again emphasised is that Capetonians love the Stormers and the rugby fans in this city and province love nothing more than the local derbies.
The match is expected to be a sell-out with 45,000 tickets sold by Thursday. It was a similar situation with the final home game of 2024, when the ‘sold out’ signs went up for the Stormers' pulsating and dramatic win against the Sharks on the 28th December.
The Stormers are comfortably the best supported team in South Africa when it comes to stadium attendance and they are also among the top two in the URC. Leinster, who play some of their matches at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and broke all records with 80,000 attendance for the derby match against Munster at Croke Park, traditionally have the best-paying stadium attendance.
The Stormers, in the John Dobson coaching era, which started with a first-ever international title for the Cape-based club in the first season of the URC, have seduced the Cape-based rugby purists with their adventurous style of play, their refusal to concede defeat until the final whistle and a home record at the DHL Stadium that is closer to 90 than 80 percent.
They are a team that has enjoyed considerable success in the URC, but the loyalty to Dobson and his players is not exclusive to on-field results.
There is an understanding and appreciation among supporters of how big a blow injuries have been to the Stormers this season and Dobson has regularly been without seven to 12 of his first-choice players, because of injury or Springbok call-ups.
This forced unavailability has weakened the Stormers match 23, but it has not weakened the appetite of Stormers supporters who will again arrive hoping for the impossible, which was something they got in a winning display against the star-studded internationally-rich Sharks line-up.
Whichever player wears the Stormers jersey gets the support in Cape Town.
The Bulls support is also big in the province and expect to see plenty of light blue jerseys in the stands.
Roos and Hanekom, individually, are box office attractions. Both were schooled at Paarl Boys High, a few years apart, with Roos the older by two-and-a-half years.
Hanekom, just 22 years old, but already into his third year of professional rugby, made his Test debut against Wales in Cardiff in the Springboks’ final Test of 2024. Roos, who has played five Tests for the Springboks, was unavailable for tour selection because of injury. He also made his Test debut against Wales, but in 2022.
Roos, two seasons ago, was earmarked as the natural successor to retiring Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen, but overseas-based No 8 Jasper Wiese’s form and a series of injuries (to Roos), curtailed the Stormers' loose-forward's charge for the Bok No 8 jersey.
Hanekom, under 16 at Paarl Boys when Roos matriculated, has added to the complexities of Roos making his way to the front of the Bok queue. His form has been consistently good for the Bulls this season, his presence has been huge, even in matches the Bulls lost, and his graph continues to rise.
Roos’s graph, so impressive in those first two URC seasons, has plateaued, but Saturday gives the more senior of the Boishaai old boys a rare opportunity to make a statement with Hanekom on the field at the same time.
It is a match both players will relish and one that Bok coach Rassie Erasmus will enjoy as much, specifically because of the Roos and Hanekom presence.
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