News24.com | Concerns over Cape Town pitch as 'biggest Stormers crowd of all time' set to pack stadium

The Stormers at Cape Town Stadium (Gallo Images)

• The Stormers and Bulls are set for a mammoth URC quarter-final clash at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
• Over 42 000 tickets have already been sold. 
• There are concerns, however, over the quality of the Cape Town Stadium pitch. 

It was clear throughout their Friday morning training session at Cape Town Stadium that the Stormers are in a good space ahead of their blockbuster quarter-final against the Bulls. 

The defending URC champions were all smiles and full of laughter, and coach John Dobson acknowledged that this had been a particularly good week of training. 

The Stormers have, after all, enjoyed two weeks off with Dobson resting all of his main URC players in this past weekend's Currie Cup clash against the Blue Bulls, also in Cape Town. 

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Refreshed and energised, the Stormers are up for this, but there was some concern in the camp on Friday that the Cape Town Stadium pitch could be an equalising factor of sorts on Saturday. 

Slippery and sludgy underfoot, the turf at the iconic venue has long been a talking point, and plans are in place to turn it into a 50% synthetic surface beyond this season. 

"It's brilliant," skipper Steven Kitshoff sarcastically said on Friday at his pre-match press conference when asked about the surface as the room erupted with laughter. 

The pitch has actually improved since last weekend's Currie Cup game. 

"There are patches where it is a bit dodgy, but it's still a quick pitch and scrumming and mauling will be the tricky part," Kitshoff added. 

"The pitch is playable and guys must just take extra caution when it comes to studs and that kind of thing."

This is Kitshoff's final season with the Stormers, which means Saturday's clash will be an emotional farewell if his side loses. 

"For me, it's still all about preparing as well as I can before the game and not bringing emotion into it," he said.

"I think it will be emotional after the game, and that's where that will kick in. It's now just about being as sharp as I can be for the game."

At last count, more than 42 000 tickets had been sold for the fixture, which certainly has a similar feeling about it to last season's tournament final between the same teams at the same venue. 

That final was capped to 30 000, though, because of Covid-19 restrictions. It leaves Saturday's clash on course to become the biggest crowd ever to have attended a Stormers fixture. 

"Four years ago, where Western Province rugby was, Super Rugby crowds had gone from 40 000 to under 20 000," said Dobson. 

"This is going to be the biggest Stormers crowd of all time, and that is largely because of the capacity. If Newlands could have sold more, there would have been more, but to reverse a trend and revilaitise a tradition and have this for South African rugby is special.

"I'm not going to feel like that tomorrow, but right now, it is brilliant for South African rugby."

Kick-off on Saturday is at 15:30.