It’s almost the perfect scenario for South African rugby with three of its four teams in the quarterfinals of the inauguralCovid-19 impacted all sport and South African rugby was not spared. In an ever-changing landscape, South African players endured two frustrating seasons of local derbies until the URC came along.
Now with three sides in the last eight and a guaranteed semi-final, because the Bulls and Sharks clash in the quarterfinals, the early teething problems of the move north seem irrelevant. The Stormers, with a strong pack spearheaded by Bok props Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe should be able to build a strong foundation for their enterprising backs — even sans Willemse — to ask serious questions of the Edinburgh defence.
Edinburgh though, have only lost once to South African opposition and recorded one of only two wins by foreign teams in SA when they beat the Sharks 21-5 in March. They are a formidable team. “The Bulls have really got into their stride the last few games, but I think we’ve been bearing it up from day one,” Sharks captain Thomas du Toit said. “We’ve had a few hiccups here and there, but we’re really going forward and we’re bettering ourselves every week.