Stakes high in opening weekend

Listening and reading everything being said ahead of the opening weekend of Vodacom Super Rugby makes one thing obvious – unless there is a draw, there are going to be some extremely dejected players and coaches come Saturday night. Everybody wants the same thing. They want to hit the season running. They want to boost confidence by getting off to a winning start. They want to prove that what they worked on in the pre-season was relevant and will work for them during a Super Rugby season that remains long and arduous even though the number of teams have been cut. Admittedly, some do need it more than others. The Lions are at home to the Sharks. A home win is an imperative, and the Lions also want to maintain their stranglehold over local opposition. A first defeat to a South African side in a sod of a long time would not be a good way for them to start the season when they have had a change of coach. That does not though mean that the Sharks need the win any less. They have come second to the Lions too often in recent seasons, both on the field and in the group log they were lumped in over the past two years. After their implosion in the Currie Cup final, the Durbanites have been working hard, and they need it to pay off now if they are going to be confident of competing for Super Rugby silverware. But perhaps the team that needs it most this weekend is the Stormers. They travel to Australia on Sunday. The Australian challenge should have benefited from the decision to cut the teams in the competition from 18 to 15, and in their case, from five to four. Whereas South Africa effectively still has six teams that spread the talent as two of them are playing in Europe, the Australian talent has become more concentrated. That means the Stormers’ first tour match in Sydney won’t be easy. Then they cross the Tasman Sea and face the Crusaders and Highlanders. Ouch. No wonder their coach Robbie Fleck has made such a fuss about the need to get off to a winning start against the Jaguares at Newlands. He knows what’s coming after this and at this point of the season his side is some way below full strength. So, what happens to the losers on Saturday night? They will adjust of course. Suddenly the first game won’t be so important – it will just be the first game in many. That won’t detract though from the reality. Even in a long competition like Super Rugby is, it is important to make a positive start as it sets the tone. And that is particularly so if you are going to travel soon after the start. Super Rugby starts a week earlier in South Africa than it does in the rest of the Super Rugby region, which is why there are just two matches to be played in the first round. The New Zealand, Australian and Japanese teams join the Bulls in making their seasonal debuts next weekend. Weekend fixtures (Both matches Saturday) DHL Stormers v Jaguares (Cape Town, 3pm) The Stormers are missing several key players to injury, but the most significant absentees are the two Springbok locks, Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit. Coach Robbie Fleck is right though when he says it’s not too much of a train smash – JD Schickerling was the best forward in the Currie Cup last season and will be a Springbok this year, while Chris van Zyl is an experienced player who leads Western Province in the domestic competition. The Stormers still have a Bok front row and a well balanced loose trio, plus the hype about the Argentinian forward power, when it comes to the Jaguares, often amounts to hyperbola. Provided the Stormers backs, marshalled this season by the inexperienced though immensely talented Damian Willemse, find their feet quickly, the home team should win. But expect it to be tight. And considering what is on the line, expect to gnaw your finger nails a bit if you are a Stormers supporter. Some of us did get to see the Stormers play on a sweltering day in Wellington two weeks ago, when they drew with the Bulls, but that game didn't leave us with a good idea of what to expect. If anything, it was the youngsters rather than the senior players who stood up and impressed that day, and not all those players are playing at Newlands. So we don't really know what to expect, though the word from around the camp is that the work of skills coach Paul Feeney during the off-season has built further onto the skill base that started to be created last season. If that is the case, it is an exciting prospect. Prediction: Stormers to win by 9 Emirates Lions v Cell C Sharks (Johannesburg, 5.05pm) It’s always hard to predict what will happen in the first game of the season and the Sharks have thrown a lot of effort into their quest to hit the season running. They showed good form in their warm-up games. However, although they do boast a strong bench, the pack selected to start the Emirates Airlines Park game looks a little short of what the Lions are going to hit them with in the forward battle. They also don’t have a bad bench, with Marvin Orie having developed hugely as a lock during the last Currie Cup season, and Dylan Smith is an experienced loose-head. Jacobie Adriaanse knows his way around the scrums too, so that should off-set the arrival on the field of Bok Beast Mtawarira, who plays off the Sharks bench this time, and unless he experienced a significant growth spurt during the off-season, Hyron Andrews is not in the same league as Orie. The Lions have lost two Bok wings and they also don’t have Jaco Kriel playing for them on Saturday but Aphiwe Dyantyi and Cyle Brink were impressive in last year’s Currie Cup. The Sharks have come close in Johannesburg recently and they should come close again, but the Lions have the edge. Sorry, but some of us haven't forgotten what happened to the Sharks pack in the domestic decider, and this pack doesn't look dissimilar to that one. Funnily enough, considering he used to be pilloried for giving away penalties, the Sharks may well find that what they miss the most is the grunt of Etienne Oosthuizen, who is now playing overseas. If the Lions don’t win, the doom merchants who reckon they are destined to take a backward step without Johan Ackermann in the coaching group may be right. Prediction: Lions to win a close game