The Lions, the Sharks and the Stormers will be joined by Argentinian outfit the Jaguares on opening weekend as the Southern Hemisphere’s greatest club rugby competition returns to our screen once again with two tantalising fixtures. Fans are in for a real treat on Saturday!
Super 15 opening fixtures:
Stormers vs Jaguares
Kick-off at 15:05 (3:05pm)
Lions vs Sharks
Kick-off at 17:15 (5:15pm)
Stormers vs Jaguares
Newlands Stadium, Cape Town
Siya Kolisi will skipper the Stormers on Saturday as the Western Cape side kick-off this season’s Super Rugby competition as they welcome Argentina’s Jaguares to the Mother City. Eben Etzebeth is one of ten star players that will be absent this weekend through injury against a side they turned over 32-25 in the corresponding fixture last season. The Jaguares will be hoping for a much-improved campaign in the newly reformed Super 15, after the inconsistent run of results that plagued them for the entirety of their 2017 season and saw them finish a lowly 10th. They failed to beat any of the other South African outfits after easing past the Eastern Kings 39-26 in their opener.
Lions vs Sharks
Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Beaten finalists now in two consecutive seasons, the Lions, will be hoping to finally go one better under Coach Johan Ackermann in 2018 and will be roaring to get going against the Sharks on Saturday. The Joburg based outfit did the double over their South Coast rivals last year, registering a 34-29 win at home before a 27-10 turnaround at the Shark Tank helped secure their place in the knockout rounds. The Sharks have opted to bench the trio of Curwin Bosch (full-back),as well as forwards Dan Du Preez and Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira as they aim to get their regular season underway with a win against the side that ended their own title ambitions in 2017 when the Lions secured a semi-final spot, beating the Sharks for the third time, in the last eight of the competition, by the narrowest of 23-21 scorelines.