New Zealand kick off the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour with a clash with the Stormers in Cape Town on Friday night
Stormers vs New Zealand, Friday 7th August, Cape Town, KO 19:10 (South African time)
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)
Weather Forecast – Cape Town
Stormers:
The Stormers finished third in the URC standings last season with 60 points with an overall record of 12 wins, 5 losses, and 1 draw. In a home quarter final they beat Cardiff 44-21 but they bowed out at the semi final stage losing 20-11 to eventual title winner Leinster in Dublin. Including the play off the Stormers won 8 of their 10 URC home matches with the Sharks and Connacht the two sides to beat them in Cape Town.
The Currie Cup squad have won 2 and lost 1 of their first 3 matches but the next URC season is still the thick end of two months away so players are only just returning to training.
New Zealand:
The All Blacks have a busy tour schedule (see below) starting with this game and future dates with the Sharks, Bulls and Lions as well as the 4 tests against the Boks.
In the Nations Championship New Zealand are second in the Southern Hemisphere behind the Springboks on points difference. They won all 3 of their recent home matches with a bonus point, starting by edging out France 34-32 in Christchurch in what was Dave Rennie’s first game in charge. In Round 2 in Wellington New Zealand put Italy away 47–17 whilst arguably their most convincing display came in Round 3 at Eden Park where they beat Ireland 40–21.
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Fixtures
Friday 7th August, Stormers v New Zealand (Cape Town Stadium)
Tuesday 11th August, Sharks v New Zealand (Kings Park, Durban)
Saturday 15th August, Bulls v New Zealand (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Saturday 22nd August, 1st test: South Africa v New Zealand (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
Tuesday 25th August, Lions v New Zealand (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
Saturday, 29th August, 2nd test: South Africa v New Zealand (Cape Town Stadium)
Saturday, 5th September, 3rd test: South Africa v New Zealand (FNB Stadium, Soweto)
Saturday, 12th September, 4th test: South Africa v New Zealand (Baltimore, USA)
Team News
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Jonathan Roche, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Yaqeen Ahmed, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Neethling Fouché, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1 Vernon Matongo.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotzé, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Ruan Ackermann, 20 Keke Morabe, 21 Wandile Mlaba, 22 Dewaldt Duvenage, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
New Zealand (revised after Sititi withdrawal due to illness): 15 Josh Moorby, 14 Leroy Carter, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Anton Leinert-Brown, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Anton Segner, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Fabian Holland, 3 Pasilio Tosi, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 George Bower.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Siale Lauaki, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Ethan Blackadder, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Josh Jacomb, 23 Caleb Clarke
The Betting
Updated 07 Aug 06h41
Stormers +32.5 points
New Zealand -34.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Bet: Stormers v New Zealand
Posted 07 August
Bet: 3 units (1–5) – New Zealand over 48.5 team points at 5/6 with World Sports Betting.
Bookmakers have been understandably cautious about pricing this game, but a couple of sites are now up. The Stormers are currently +32.5, having shortened slightly from an opening quote of +34.5. The total points line is 65.5, and conditions look set to be perfect for rugby.
The Stormers have named a stronger side than I was expecting, but New Zealand have also gone with a very strong team and I expect a big win.
The bet I like here is New Zealand over 48.5 team points.
There aren't any recent tours of this nature to use as a guide, but if you look back at the British & Irish Lions' 2025 tour of Australia, they scored 50 points or more in both of their opening matches. Four years earlier, they also brought up the half-century in their opening 3 fixtures against South African provincial opposition.
This New Zealand side should have even greater cohesion than those Lions teams, and I can't look past them reaching the 50-point mark here.
I'll be back later on Friday with a look at some of the exotic markets, and perhaps another bet or two.
Bet 2: Stormers v New Zealand
Posted 07 August 18h47
Bet: 0.5 unit (1–5) – Caleb Clarke last try scorer at 10/1 with PokerBet.
The New Zealand team points line has moved out to 50.5, so by getting on early at over 48.5, we effectively have a conversion in hand.
I'm really looking forward to this game and don't want to get too heavily involved beyond my existing play. I will, however, have a small nibble on Caleb Clarke to score the last try.
Clarke comes off the bench, and if the game opens up as expected later on, hopefully he gets an opportunity to make an impact.
At 10/1, it's worth half a unit.
More rugby bets from Brent can be found in the Currie Cup Blog whilst tips from other members of our community are posted on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
