The Sunwolves will host the Stormers in Singapore on Saturday night. Join The Roar for live scores from the match, starting from 9:55pm AEDT.
The Stormers are enjoying another strong season so far in 2017, with three wins so far from as many matches.
They defeated the Bulls first up 37-24, then the Jaguares 32-25, and most recently the Kings 41-10.
The Sunwolves on the other hand have played four matches so far this season, and lost them all.
They were blasted off the park by the Hurricanes 17-83, but since then have been at least somewhat competitive.
Their last three results have been 23-37 against the Kings, 31-38 against the Cheetahs, and 21-34 against the Bulls.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck said he wouldn’t underestimate the Sunwolves despite their poor form to start the season.
“It has been a good week of preparation for us and we are really excited to see the players in the match-day squad take this opportunit,” he said.
“We know it will be tough against the Sunwolves here in Singapore, but it is a challenge that excites us.”
Sunwolves
15 Jamie-Jerry Taulagi, 14 Shota Emi, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Derek Carpenter, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Jumpei Ogura, 9 Keisuke Uchida, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Shokei Kin, 6 Ed Quirk (c), 5 Sam Wykes, 4 Liaki Moli, 3 Heiichiro Ito, 2 Yusuke Niwai, 1 Koki Yamamoto.Replacements: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Masataka Mikami, 18 Takuma Asahara, 19 Uwe Helu, 20 Shumei Matsuhashi, 21 Kaito Shigeno, 22 Hayden Cripps, 23 Ryohei Yamanaka.
Stormers
15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Siya Kolisi (c), 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 JD Shickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Caylib Oosthuizen, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Cobus Wiese, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Dan du Plessis.
Prediction
Although the Sunwolves have the home ground advantage, the Stormers should get another win here.
Stormers by 15.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match, starting from 9:55pm AEDT.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
NV, it was a game of two halves. The first half was very competitive and there were some great tries scored. The alleged crowd of 7,142 appeared a little over-stated but the mainly Sunwolves' supporters there were quite enthusiastic, giving the "wolf cry" loud and often. It was the first time I had ever been to the Singapore National Stadium One always got the feeling that the beefier Stormers pack was always going to quell the early challenge of the Japanese franchise and so it proved but at 24-10 memories of last year's draw by the same teams we remembered. The second half never reached the height of the first as the Sunwolves started to tire. Someone has to sort out the delays created by the TMO. Obvious decisions were taking 2-3 minutes to be ratified, that's a long time... Pick up the phone dial a number that you know will not be answered immediately there are plenty of these and I think you will agree that 2 mins is a long time to be waiting for confirmation.
DT
Guest
Sunwolves play an entertaining brand of rugby. I thought they defended real well, but got worn down by the physical Stormers. Thought the ref was a bit slack on Stomers cleaners diving through the breakdown and going off their feet. They did it all game.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Not a great game, but very entertaining. If only Sunwolves could defend… Stormers showed true grit, proper grinding. Will be great to see them against Kiwi sides soon. P.S. I guess we have to live with "the quota" in SA rugby. On the bright side, Stormers have some really good colored players.