Good morning and welcome to the fourth Super Rugby quarter-final as the Stormers welcome the Chiefs to Newlands. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 1am (AEST).
The Stormers finished the season topping their conference and were the third highest qualifying side as a result, to earn their playoff at home.
They finished the season with an overall record of 10 wins and 5 losses, only losing once at home against the competition topping Lions.
The Chiefs have earned their spot in the finals by being the second highest wild card qualifier, finishing third overall within the New Zealand conference with a 12 win, two loss and one draw record.
Both sides bring winning form to the table from their last round matches, the Chiefs with a 28-10 win over fellow finalists the Brumbies at home in Hamilton last weekend while the Stormers earned an away win over arch rivals the Bulls in Pretoria in a high-scoring encounter, 41 points to 33.
Plenty of talk this week has revolved around this time last year where these two opponents met in the corresponding fixture to see a resounding victory to the Chiefs side in Capetown. The Stormers though, have shown they have learnt from that match, defeating the Chiefs during round robin in a thrilling encounter earlier this season.
Both sides will be walking into this match with eyes wide open. In terms of motivation, I can only imagine the Stormers will be hell bent on righting the ledger now its knock out time.
Prediction
I suspect this game will be keenly contested, but the sharper attacking instincts of the Chiefs along with the greater experience within the halves will get the New Zealand side home this morning.
Chiefs by 6.
Join us live on The Roar as we cover all the action from 1am (AEST) and feel free to join in the comments below as the action unfolds.
splinter
Guest
Famous Stormers saying It is business as usual.
I want to see how you guys cry when SARU withdraws from Super Rugby. The continual complaining is really getting a bit tedious. For a country so rich in rugby history and talent they seriously have some real whingers.
Jibba Jabba
Roar Guru
Hope your mum isn't reading this ...
Jibba Jabba
Roar Guru
So you are saying south africa is buying the competition then - so thats why the useless draw ... and few south african teams playing kiwis teams...for a manufactured result. Think i may start cancel foxtel, switch off the tv and head back to club rugby where there is real fair competition, which is what the game is supposed to be about. .
Jibba Jabba
Roar Guru
Nope but better referees would be nice, peyper was again atrocious how do these guys continue to get games.. The competition and hard work by the players and money from the fans deserves better, much better.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
NZRU demands the continued involvement of South Africa because the games played there make massive money for SANZAR due to European TV deals. Play no finals there, and that money evaporates.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Hehe biltongbek ... I did .... :)
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Commiserations and hard luck Armand ... hard fought game.... And welcome back...
Geoff Parkes
Expert
I'd like to be different too R2D2. But we're not paying for the competition and paying for the players. South African TV money is. That gives them a seat at the table. For all of the unfairness, the best four teams are - once again - in the semifinals. We can whinge all we like but the actual outcomes suggest that this particular piece isn't the problem many make it out to be.
R2D2
Guest
GP your comment is the worse case to justify the " the Big Picture". Of course you want all 5 countries to have teams in the playoffs not just one , but if you lower the standards and favour teams from certain countries , the fans will only see a manipulated comp , which it is at the moment . In the long run , you lose out because the product is flawed and the customer will stop buying your crap.
Jeffrey
Guest
"But no worries, as long as the finals are ‘fair" Yes, that's what one generally hopes for in a competition. In case you didn't know...
Geoff Parkes
Expert
You're not exactly a 'big picture' man are you Ryan? Sure, play all the finals in NZ, have everyone in SA switch off, have SuperSports downgrade their TV rights investment by any multiple of tens of millions of dollars you choose to pick, force the NZRU to cut the player's pay, sending them overseas... But no worries, as long as the finals are 'fair' and NZ teams are playing each other in NZ, no matter without their best players, you'll be happy...?? I've never once heard a NZ Super Rugby coach moan about the structure or use it as an excuse. That lead should be good enough for the fans to follow.
Fionn
Guest
So the Kiwis need sympathy from the Aussies?
Mason
Guest
They were lucky to even host a home semi final simply due to the farcical finals format.
Mason
Guest
I wouldn't expect too much sympathy on this site where people actually think the Brumbies deserved their finals spot.
Nobody
Guest
Hindsight is 20/20
Ryan
Guest
The best teams in the finals but the Chiefs are screwed due to this insane finals format. They are next to no show off winning next week and should they do win they are highly likely to end up flying back to South Africa. The Chiefs and Canes should both of hosted their Quarterfinals.
Bakkies
Guest
No such thing as accidental in the guidelines. Peyper should be hauled over the coals over his lack of application to the guidelines and player safety
Armand van Zyl
Roar Guru
Congratulations to all Chiefs fans. Thoroughly deserved and good luck in the semi-finals. In terms of being a Stormers supporter, what is there to say that has never been said? We lost another playoff game and in the greater terms that means that we made no true progress. These losses are not acceptable. On the other hand, because they are my team and I probably love them just as much as I love my Mother (no, really... maybe), I suppose I can say thank you to the Stormers for pitching up. The irony of how that sounds is not lost on me. But in previous playoff games, we usually didn't pitch up and played horribly. Tonight we weren't good enough and we didn't deserve to win, but we were committed and tried our best. That's all. And the rest is silence.
I should have put money on the outcome of the play offs