The Chiefs and Stormers, who set the pace in Super Rugby throughout the 2012 season, will meet in very different circumstances on Saturday during the fourth round of the new season.
The New Zealand-based Chiefs stayed near the top of the championship table throughout last year’s tournament before going on to win the title for the first time in their 17-year history.
South Africa’s Stormers finished atop the championship table after last year’s regular season, then faded in the play-offs and saw South African compatriots the Sharks go on to oppose the Chiefs in the final.
When they meet in Cape Town on Saturday, the Chiefs will have two wins from two matches in the 2013 competition while the Stormers have two losses from two games, making the match an early crossroads for both teams.
Their remaining common ground is that both teams have been besieged by injuries at the start of the new season. But while the Chiefs have coped, investing faith in young players who have performed, the Stormers have struggled to recover the confidence of last season.
The Chiefs opened their current campaign with an away win over the Highlanders, then returned home to beat the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs 45-3, despite leading only 10-3 after an error-ridden first half.
The Stormers have had to open their season with two of the unforgiving derby matches which mark the South African conference, losing 25-17 to the Bulls and 12-6 last weekend to the Sharks.
“It was always going to be a tough start to the competition and this was really an arm wrestle, a dog fight and one of the toughest derbies you can get,” Stormers coach Allister Coetzee said after the loss to the Sharks. “It was almost like a Test match.
“We’re a team that’s not used to losing and if you want to be a championship side, you can’t be happy with losing.”
Centre Juan de Jongh, fullback Jaco Taute and flanker Michael Rhodes joined flanker Schalk Burger and hooker Scarra Ntubeni on the injury list this week but Coetzee was undeterred. Wingers Bryan Habana and Joe Pietersen were also rested in training this week because of minor knocks.
“There are quite a few key players out but imagine if we did not have the depth in our squad,” said Coetzee.
“It’s not a train smash when you lose two games,” he said. “There is still a lot of confidence in the team after they showed improvement since the first match.