Defending champions Leinster face the Sacha-less Stormers in Saturday’s second URC semi-final looking to maintain the impressive form they showed in their quarterfinal.
To Win
Leinster | Draw | Stormers
Handicap
Leinster | Stormers
Match context
A week on from their most recent Champions Cup final heartache, Leinster delivered a ruthless showing in their URC quarterfinal to cut an injury-hit Lions side to ribbons in an eventual 59-10 win.
Leo Cullen’s men scored nine tries and never looked like losing which, coming off their hiding at the hands of back-to-back European champions Bordeaux-Begles, they deserve credit for.
Word out of the camp has made it clear just how dialled-in the group are, and you’d have to be a brave man betting against them going on to do that form here, even in spite of injury concerns to some key personnel.
The Stormers conceded first in each of the halves of their 44-21 quarterfinal win over Cardiff, something which may need addressing ahead of this clash against the obviously much greater threat of Leinster, though attack-wise they were able to beat an impressive 29 defenders to the Welsh club’s 14, which is very encouraging.
The biggest shadow looming over the team though is the absence of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who sustained an ankle injury in the act of scoring a try against the Blue and Blacks and has been ruled out for three to six months.
While Jurie Matthee is an able deputy, there’s just no replacing SFM and the Leinster juggernaut will be looking to capitalise on this as much as they can come kick-off.
The Capetonians thrashed Leinster 35-0 on the SA west coast in their round one clash, but that result seems eons ago and the context is much different now.
Players to Watch
James Lowe (Leinster)
Back in the side after missing selection for the Champions Cup final, Lowe’s late brace against the Lions in the quarterfinal saw him break Leinster’s all-time try-scoring record. Amid speculation that this may be his final season in dark blue, the former Waikato Chief will be doing all he can to finish his career in Dublin with more silverware.
Back in form, his showing out wide will definitely be worth keeping an eye on, especially coming up against the inventive Stormers back three.
Jurie Matthee (Stormers)
The 25-year-old will be stepping into one of the biggest games of his life, with his contribution at No 10 in Sacha’s absence likely to have a massive bearing on which team progresses to the final.
Mathee came off the bench against Cardiff and managed to slot a penalty and conversion in the final quarter, but the pressure will be amped right up at the home of Leinster, where even the tiniest of margins matter enormously.
John Dobson has certainly sung his praises in the past, but this game will likely decide just how far the Paarl Gym Old Boy’s career can progress at the very highest level.
Tactical overview
Paul de Villiers, arguably the Stormers best player of season, caused chaos at the breakdown in the quarterfinal in Cape Town and his influence on proceedings in Dublin will be huge again for the visitors.
As will the performance of Damian Willemse, who recovered from a nasty training accident to go on and rack up 103-attacking metres while beating six Cardiff defenders.
Whether either gets similar opportunities against Jacques Nienaber’s Leinster defence is another matter however, with the 2025 champions’ accuracy and discipline in a league of their own at times.
Given Leinster’s efficiency and the Stormers’ lack of SFM magic, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the visitors gradually strangled out of the contest.
Verdict
Leinster to narrowly clear the handicap in what should be a tight contest for most of the 80-minutes.
