Stormers

Stormers

Union	South African Rugby Union
Founded	1997
Location	Cape Town, South Africa
Region	Cape Town Cape Winelands West Coast
Ground(s)	Newlands (Capacity: 50,900)
Coach(es)	Rassie Erasmus
Captain(s)	Luke Watson
League(s)	Super 14
2007	10th
1st kit 2nd kit

The Stormers, for sponsorship reasons referred to as Vodacom Stormers, are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super 14 competition (formerly Super 12). They have never reached the final of the Super 12 competition, having been eliminated in the semi-finals in their best two years, 1999 and 2004. The current team captain is flanker Luke Watson.

They are based in Cape Town and centred around the Western Province union, but also draw players from the Boland Cavaliers (covering the Cape Winelands and West Coast districts, with home matches in Wellington). Through 2005, they also drew players from the Eagles (George), which meant that they drew players from all three unions in the Western Cape Province. However, the general realignment of franchise areas resulting from the expansion of the competition resulted in the Eagles being moved to the area of the Southern Spears, which were originally to enter the Super 14 in 2007 but have since been denied entry into the competition.

Prior to 1998, South Africa did not use a franchise system for the Super 12, instead sending the top four unions from its domestic competition, the Currie Cup, into the Super 12. In 1996, the Stormers qualified and competed in the Super 12 as Western Province. In 1997, they did not qualify, the 4th South African team being the Orange Free State (now the Free State Cheetahs at Currie Cup level; the region would later be represented in Super 12 by the Cats (now known as the Lions) and in Super 14 by the Central Cheetahs).

History

With the lauch of the Super 12 in 1996, both Australia and New Zealand adopted franchise-based models for their provincial teams that were to compete in the new competition. However, the South Africa teams were to be determined by the results of the previous season's Currie Cup, with the top four sides gaining entry in the Super 12. Newlands did see Super 12 competition during the era when this model of competition was used, with the Western Province gaining promotion for the inaugural season of 1996. However, the team did not perform that well, winning only three matches from 11 fixtures, and finishing second last on the table, though Transvaal and the Wellington Hurricanes both won the same amount of games as the Western Province, they finished higher, due to a superior for and against.

The following season, in 1997, the Western Province did not gain promotion to the Super 12, and the Cape Town area was not represented that season, as the South Africa teams in competition were instead the Natal Sharks, Gauteng Lions, Free State and Northern Transvaal. The next season, South Africa adopted a similar system to that of New Zealand's and Australia's, creating four new provincial sides, and abolishing qualification through the Currie Cup. One of the sides created was the Stormers, or the Western Stormers. The Stormers' first season was fairly similar to that of the Western Province's in 1996, winning just the three games out of 11 fixtures, though they finished in ninth place overall on the table.

The 1999 Super 12 season was far more successful for the Stormers, as the lost only three matches during the regular season; against the ACT Brumbies, the Otago Highlanders and fellow South African team, the Cats, though the Stormers ended up finishing higher on the table than all of those sides, finishing in second place overall, behind only the Queensland Reds. The Stormers thus qualified for the semi-finals for the first time, and due to their second position, hosted their semi-final in cape Town. They were however defeated by Otago, 33 points to 18.

In 2000, the Stormers fell just short of making the finals again, as they finished in fifth position, with a total of 31 points, just one point behind the Cats and Highlanders who both made it to the semi-finals, on 32 points. However, the following season of 2001 saw the Stormers move further away from a place in the finals, as they won five of their 11 fixtures, and ended up finishing in seventh place on the ladder. The following season was not any better for the Stormers, despite starting the season with an optimistic 40 to 18 win over the Sharks, the Stormers ended up finishing in ninth place on the ladder.

The 2004 season saw the Stormers return to the success of 1999, as they qualified for the finals again. The team finished in third place overall, with seven wins, and on 34 points, one point more than the fourth placed Chiefs. The Stormers travelled to Jade Stadium in Christchurch, where they met the Crusaders in the semi-final. The home team won, defeating the Stormers 27 points to 16. The following season the Stormers fell to ninth place on the table come the end of the regular season, far from finals contention.

For the 2006 season, the Super 12 became the Super 14, with the addition of two new teams; one from Australia, the Western Force, and one from South Africa, the Central Cheetahs. The Stormers won four of the now 13 regular rounds, finishing in 11th place in the final standings.

Strip

The Stormers, since their establishment, have traditionally played in black strips, and have been affectionately been known as the 'Men in Black'. The Stormers unveiled a new-look strip at a press conference in 2006, for the 2007 Super 14 season in Cape Town. The most notable changes included the move from a black strip to a navy blue with white details. The change in strip is the first stage of a three point plan to align the Stormers more closely with the Western Province Currie Cup team.[1] The Stormers' main sponsor is Vodacom.

Stadium

A Stormers match at Newlands.

Main article: Newlands Stadium

The first official matches played at Newlands were in 1890. The ground has been continually developed over the past century, entirely by the efforts of the Western Province Rugby Football Union and its administrators. The stadium has taken on various names over the years due to sponsorship of the Western Province side, but is today simply named Newlands, a decision made by former Stormers sponsors Investec. Vodacom has since taken over sponsorship of the team and stadium, but chose not to rename the stadium. Newlands has usually drawn the largest average crowds of any stadium in Super Rugby competition. In 2002 the Stormers welcomed their millionth spectator through the gates. The ground was bought in 1888, and currently has a capacity of over 50,000.

Current squad

The Stormers during 2006.

Eddie Andrews Gio Aplon Andries Bekker Selborne Boome Schalk Brits Tony Brown Schalk Burger Tonderai Chavhanga Bolla Conradie Paul Delport Dylan des Fountain

Jean de Villiers Robbie Diack Huia Edmonds Schalk Ferreira Peter Grant Brock Harris Conrad Jantjes Enrico Januarie Tiaan Liebenberg Pieter Louw Justin Melck

JD Moller Naas Olivier Breyton Paulse Joe Pietersen Egon Seconds Ross Skeate Luke Titus Corne Uys Francois van der Merwe Luke Watson Sireli Naqelevuki

Season standings

Season	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	BP	Pts	Notes
1996	11th	11	3	1	7	251	353	-101	1	15	As Western Province
1997	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Not promoted
1998	9th	11	3	0	8	248	364	-116	6	18
1999	2nd	11	8	0	3	290	244	+46	4	36	Lost semi-final to Otago Highlanders
2000	5th	11	6	1	4	298	276	+22	5	31
2001	7th	11	5	0	6	278	285	-7	6	26
2002	7th	11	5	0	6	310	314	-4	7	27
2003	9th	11	5	0	6	255	354	-99	3	23
2004	3rd	11	7	0	4	286	260	+26	5	33	Lost semi-final to Crusaders
2005	9th	11	3	1	7	215	320	-105	4	18
2006	11th	13	4	1	8	263	334	-71	5	23
2007	10th	13	6	0	7	249	326	-77	3	27

References

• McIlraith, Matt (2005). Ten Years of Super 12. Auckland, New Zealand: Hodder Moa. ISBN 1-86971-025-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

External links

• Official site

• Western Province Rugby
• sarugby.net