News24.com | Dodgy Cape Town Stadium pitch looks set to hold up ... for one final hurrah

Calm before the storm… the Stormers were pleased that rain stayed away for their captain’s run at Cape Town Stadium on Friday (Photo: Herman Mostert/News24)

• Cape Town Stadium's pitch is not in the best shape, but it should hold up when the Stormers host Connacht in Saturday's URC semi-final.
• The stadium will get a new hybrid surface in July, which will be 50% synthetic and 50% grass.
• At midday on Friday, 40 000 tickets were already sold for Saturday's clash.

Cape Town Stadium's playing surface may be "on its last legs", but it should hold up for perhaps one final hurrah when the Stormers tackle Connacht in the URC semi-finals on Saturday.

The stadium's pitch has been problematic for some time and parts of it tore up badly during the Stormers' 33-21 quarter-final win over the Bulls last weekend.

There were fears that Thursday's rain would see the pitch deteriorate even further, but that appears not to be the case as the rain in the Mother City wasn't heavy, while a strong south-easterly wind had helped to dry up matters as the Stormers held their captain's run on Friday.

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An insider told News24 that there were fears that more rain on Friday could make the surface worse, but luckily the rain stayed away.

No rain is predicted for Saturday, while the strong south-easter is expected to persist. This should leave the field in no worse state than it already was last Saturday.

The semi-final may well be the final rugby game to be played on the field as a new hybrid pitch, which will be 50% synthetic and 50% grass, will be laid in July.

The only way the Stormers will play another game on the surface is if they beat Connacht and Leinster somehow slip up in their semi-final against Munster.

Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman said earlier in the week that the Cape Town Stadium pitch was "probably on its last legs", but that the home side were used to it by now.

"Look, it's where we're playing at the moment. Maybe it's an advantage for us because we understand the surface," Snyman said.

"We get opportunities to train on the field. It's not something we really complain about. We just get on with it.

"There's not much we can do about it. The last three to four games have been similar, so I don't think it will get any worse. This past weekend is probably the worst we've seen it."

Meanwhile, another big crowd is expected for Saturday's match. By midday on Friday, 40 000 tickets were already sold.

The Stormers players were in high spirits during their captain's run on Friday. The Capetonians have done well in knockout games of late and appear a confident bunch.

Centre Ruhan Nel told News24 earlier in the week that they relished playing knockout rugby.

"One thing that we're driving fairly hard now is our team identity. It's almost like we are who we are. In knockout games it's very easy to go into your shell, almost playing just not to lose the game instead of playing to win," Nel said.

"There's a place and time to be conservative in knockout rugby, but if I look at us over the last season ... we were playing in the final and taking quick throw-ins. It's high-risk rugby, but it's what we're coached to do and it's what the team does best.

"We’re not staying away from our identity and I just think we're sticking to our strengths ... to play rugby, play what we see. If it comes off, it comes off, but if it doesn't then at least we tried.

"But for us as a Stormers team, we'll feel horrible if we went into a game with a mindset of just being conservative. If we didn’t stay true to what we are we’ll feel much more disappointed. If we throw the whole kitchen sink and end up losing then at least you can walk into the changeroom with your head held high," he said.

Kick-off is at 16:00 on Saturday.

Teams:

Stormers

Connacht

15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 John Porch, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Jack Carty (captain), 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Cian Prendergast, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 5 Niall Murray, 4 Josh Murphy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley

Substitutes: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Jarrad Butler, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Tom Daly, 23 Byron Ralston