LIVE | Stormers vs All Blacks
The long-awaited “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” tour gets underway in Cape Town on Friday night when the Stormers host the All Blacks at the Cape Town Stadium…
The Full Story
The long-awaited “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” tour gets underway in Cape Town on Friday night when the Stormers host the All Blacks at the Cape Town Stadium in the opening fixture of New Zealand’s historic tour of South Africa.
The clash marks the first-ever meeting between the Stormers and the All Blacks in the professional era, kicking off an unprecedented eight-match tour that includes fixtures against South Africa’s four United Rugby Championship franchises before a four-Test Freedom Cup series against the Springboks.
While the All Blacks toured South Africa in 1996, they did not face the Stormers – then known as Western Province – or any of the country’s current URC franchises.
Western Province did, however, enjoy memorable victories over the All Blacks in 1928 (10-3) and 1976 (12-11).
The Western Cape also shares a unique connection with New Zealand rugby.
Current Springbok assistant coach and former All Black flyhalf Tony Brown represented the Stormers in 2008.
Dave Rennie focused on improvement
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie said his side’s priority is building momentum after their recent Nations Championship campaign.
“We want to build on what we’ve done in the past three games,” Rennie said.
“We’ve had a bit more time together, and that’s been good.
“There’s some combinations we’re testing against a team that’s been competitive in the URC who will be excited about the potential of an international scalp, so that makes them dangerous.”
The New Zealand coach stressed that the fixture is about preparing his squad for the looming Test series against the Springboks.
“This is only about us getting better; we’ve got a Test match around the corner, and we know we’ll need to be better against them than we were in the three Tests.”
Despite the absence of several Springboks from the Stormers squad, Rennie dismissed suggestions that his side would face a weakened opponent.
“It’s still a pretty strong Stormers side we feel,” he said.
“There’s no shortage of talent and depth in this country.
“The old days of playing a French Barbarians or a South African XV that want to soften you up ahead of a Test series probably changed.
“We have a massive amount of respect for South African rugby, and we’re well aware of the quality of team we are up against, and we’ll give them that respect.”
The All Blacks are also expecting plenty of backing from South African supporters, with New Zealand teams traditionally enjoying a loyal following in Cape Town.
“It’s been awesome. It’s my eighth time staying in this hotel,” Rennie said.
“We’ve played the Stormers a lot when I was with the Chiefs, and the support we got was always fantastic.
“I know supporters of all New Zealand sides came through here and very much like the All Blacks.
“The crowd we saw last Friday at the welcome event were very passionate, and it will be great to have those voices and numbers behind us this week to start the tour off.”
Friday night’s encounter will be the first …