Ospreys vs Stormers Predictions - Stormers to struggle in URC opener

Marc Thomas

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Last updated: 1 hour ago

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Ospreys face a Stormers squad missing key international players.
Ospreys have a recent victory over the Stormers in Cape Town.
Predictions favor Ospreys to win and potentially by a close margin.

Ospreys can win at home against the Stormers (Getty Images)

Ospreys vs Stormers Preview

The Stormers are nowhere near full strength with much of their squad on international duty. I'm surprised they've been given the favourites tag for this fixture.

Ospreys vs Stormers Preview
Head to Head
Ospreys Form
Ospreys Injuries & Team News
Stormers Form
Stormers Injuries & Team News

Ospreys beat the Stormers in Cape Town last season.
Ospreys lost their last match.
Stormers are missing all but 2 of their international players.

Head to Head

Last season the Ospreys shocked the Stormers in Cape Town, winning 27-21.

Ospreys Form

Last season the Ospreys were the only Welsh side to make any sort of impact on the tournament. They finished in eighth place to qualify for the quarter-finals.

While they didn’t make it any further, it was a season that would have pleased the coaching staff. A repeat this season will no doubt be the target.

However, their season started in disappointing fashion last Saturday as they went down to the Dragons 23-21 away from home. The Ospreys led by 10 points deep into the second half but poor errors cost them as the Newport outfit scored late on to snatch the win.

Ospreys Injuries & Team News

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Jac Morgan (captain), 5 Adam Beard, 4 James Ratti, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Phil Cokanasiga, 23 Max Nagy.

Stormers Form

The Stormers finished fifth on the URC table last season, winning 12 of their 18 fixtures. This was their poorest season since joining the competition after making the final in the first two.

This season the Stormers will once again look to challenge, but their squad depth, particularly in the tight-five does look quite light. To go with that, they, playing as Western Province, were poor during the recently completed Currie Cup campaign.

The youngsters couldn’t put a run of victories together without their international contingent of players. This could be a struggle for the Cape Town outfit this season.

Stormers Injuries & Team News

Springbok fullback makes his return from injury to start at fullback this weekend. Another international, Joseph Dweba starts at hooker, but the rest of the internationals are away on Springbok duty.

Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 David Ewers, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Sti Sithole.

Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Stefan Ungerer, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Angelo Davids.

Verdict

Ospreys v Stormers

I am backing Ospreys to beat the Stormers against the odds.

Ospreys Win

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