Stormers

Stormers
Union	South African Rugby Union
Founded	1997 as Super Franchise and 1883 as Domestic Franchise
Location	Cape Town, South Africa
Region	Cape Town; Cape Winelands; West Coast
Ground(s)	Newlands (Capacity: 50,900)
Coach(es)	Allister Coetzee
Captain(s)	Schalk Burger
League(s)	Super 14
2010	2nd
Official website
	www.thestormers.com

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). The Stormers played their first ever final against the Vodacom Bulls this year after beating the Waratahs in the semi-final stage but lost to the Bulls. In the two previous years in which they reached the semi-finals, 1999 and 2004, they were eliminated by the Highlanders and Crusaders. Despite their lack of silverware over the years, their home stadium, Newlands, typically draws the highest average attendance figures of any ground in the Super 14. The team captain for 2010 is flank Schalk Burger.

They are based in Cape Town and centred on the Western Province side, 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).

They are also the only side to lose a semifinal/final to a team from across the Indian ocean in Super 12/Super 14 history, losing to the Highlanders at home in 1999.

History

With the launch 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.

The year 2008 was one of revival for the Stormers after Kobus van der Merwe was fired and ex-Cheetahs coach, Rassie Erasmus, was brought in as head coach and WP Director of Rugby. Rassie Erasmus was hoping for a top half of the table finish, however the Stormers exceeded expectations and after losing their first 3 games of the season fought back to finish tied for 4th place on the log, missing out on an away semi final due to an inferior points differential to the Hurricanes.

After a poor 2009, the Stormers reshuffled their squad, bringing in many new faces including Springbok stars Jacque Fourie and Bryan Habana, while losing a host of players such as Springbok centre Jean de Villiers (Munster), fullback Percy Montgomery (Retired) and controversial flank Luke Watson (Bath). The Stormers enjoyed a successful start to their 2010 campaign, winning 5 of their first 6 games. They then started their four match tour of the Antipodes and while they disappointingly lost to the then last-placed Western Force and a resurgent Queensland Reds, they defeated the Blues and Chiefs to be firmly in semi-final contention at the end of the tour. They returned home to South Africa and after cruising past the Crusaders, they lost to the Sharks. This meant that they had to win their last game against the Bulls to claim a home semi-final. The Bulls, already qualified in first position, fielded a weakened line-up and the Stormers duly beat them 38-10 for their first home semi-final since 1999. In the semi-final against the Waratahs a win was never in doubt as they beat the men from Sydney 25-6, the game's only try being a spectacular individual effort by Juan de Jongh. With the Bulls winning the other semi against the Crusaders, an all South African final was ensured.

After a great semifinal performance, the Stormers went down badly in the final 25-17 to the Bulls at the historic Orlando Stadium, the Stormers never looked like winning but they did make their own set of history. Jean De Villiers has signed for the Currie cup and the 2011 season.

Strip

The very first (Western) Stormers jersey and logo in 1998 combined the colours of the three Unions who made up the regional franchise – WP, SWD and Boland. There were a myriad of colours in the jersey – blue, white, red, green, gold – and a triangular logo with a wave affect inside. Some liked the look, others not. One newspaper scribe wrote: "It looks like scrambled eggs with a box of Smarties thrown in!"

In 1999 came a dramatic change from the "loud" look to a simple black jumper and shorts, with black and white "Barbarian" socks, bold numbering and the now familiar lighting bolt logo on the breast. The move to black was done with the express purpose of appealing to a much wider audience. Black became one of the core attributes of the Stormers brand.

2007, however, saw a move away from black to navy blue as the Stormers and WP brands converged.

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 50,900.

Current squad

Stormers 2010 Super 14 Squad^[1]

Props

Hookers

Locks

Loose Forwards

Scrum Halves

Fly Halfs

Centres

Wingers

Full Backs

In for 2011

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
2008	5th	13	8	1	4	269	211	+58	7	41
2009	10th	13	5	0	8	235	249	-14	7	27
2010	2nd	13	9	0	4	365	171	+194	8	44	Lost final to Bulls
Overall	n/a	164	77	5	82	3812	4061	-249	71	389

References

^ "VODACOM STORMERS SQUAD 2010". thestormers.co.za. Retrieved 2010-02-17.

McIlraith, Matt (2005). Ten Years of Super 12. Auckland, New Zealand: Hodder Moa. ISBN 1-86971-025-8.

External links

[Stormers_Squad-1] "VODACOM STORMERS SQUAD 2010". thestormers.co.za. Retrieved 2010-02-17.

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