The Stormers have two league home matches in the next fortnight in which to break the URC crowd record for a league season.

Make it happen Cape Town and in doing so celebrate the late Stormers manager Chippie Solomon.

The Stormers play Ireland’s Connacht on Saturday in Cape Town and the league leaders Glasgow Warriors the following Saturday.

The Stormers are currently second in the URC (United Rugby Championship) and two successive wins would take them to first place with two final league matches to be played.

BUY YOUR STORMERS TICKETS FOR SATURDAY v CONNACHT

Should the Stormers finish first they would host every play-off match, if successful in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Should they finish second, they would be guaranteed a home quarter-final and, if successful, a home semi-final.

The Stormers, driven by a desire to honour Chippie in the best possible way, want the wins and they want the crowd to give Chippie the most glorious of rugby send-offs.

It is going to be a tough ask because the broadcast scheduling of the early kick-off (13.45) on Saturday means that the Stormers will lose as many as 5000 guaranteed spectators because the match time clashes with all the First XV Schools matches in the Western Cape.

This is a huge blow to Saturday’s crowd numbers, especially with the country’s oldest Schools rugby fixture, between Bishops and SACS, played at the same time, just a few kilometres away in Cape Town’s southern suburbs.

The Stormers, in the history of the URC, average 27 000 in crowd attendance at the DHL Stadium, and if 27 000 turned up on Saturday and next Saturday the URC league season record would belong to Cape Town rugby supporters and the Stormers.

Leinster are the current holders, but that record was influenced with their derby match against Munster played in front of 82 000 at Croke Park. The Aviva Stadium in Dublin, home to Leinster’s marquee matches, takes 50 000 and Leinster’s ‘home club ground’ in Dublin takes 18 000.

The Stormers have made Cape Town South Africa’s rugby capital

The Stormers crowd attendance at DHL Stadium tells the real story.

Cape Town is South Africa’s rugby capital and the numbers back it.

The Stormers hold the record for the biggest attendance (in excess of 56 000) in a final, against Munster in the second season of the URC, when they lost in the final two minutes. The Stormers won the inaugural URC title at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town against the Bulls. Covid restrictions limited the ‘capacity crowd’ to 34 000.

Saturday’s match will have significance because the Stormers will pay tribute to their long-time manager Chippie Solomon, whose memorial service will be held at Kuilsriver Rugby Club on Sunday. Chippie was the honoury life president of Kuilsriver Rugby Club. His funeral service will be in Kuilsriver next Tuesday, 21st April.

‘It has been an incredibly emotional week, given the tragic circumstances. It is going to be the strangest of experiences not having Chippie in the change room, given he was there since 2004. We want to honour him with the way we play and it would add to the occasion to have a Cape Town crowd packed into the DHL Stadium to remember Chippie as much as to watch his boys play,’ said Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson.

URC crowd record: Stormers call on Cape Town

Leinster’s season record is 241 393 and currently the Stormers attendance for the URC 2025/26 season is 197,737

Photo by Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images

URC Attendance Tables

The Record, The Rise & The Stormers Chase

URC Season 2 (First full crowd season)

• Leinster Rugby 165,542 (Season leader)
• DHL Stormers 151,314
• Hollywoodbets Sharks 140,527
• Ulster Rugby 121,290
• Munster Rugby 116,862
• Vodacom Bulls 116,818
• Ospreys 87,537
• Dragons RFC 81,935
• Edinburgh Rugby 75,482
• Scarlets 73,000
• Cardiff Rugby 69,475
• Fidelity Lions 67,357
• Glasgow Warriors 58,173
• Connacht Rugby 48,419
• Benetton Rugby 31,263
• Zebre Parma 19,526

URC Season 3 

• DHL Stormers 210,096 (Season leader)
• Leinster Rugby 171,122
• Vodacom Bulls 146,778
• Hollywoodbets Sharks 145,016
• Munster Rugby 129,580
• Ulster Rugby 118,505
• Edinburgh Rugby 91,798
• Cardiff Rugby 89,686
• Scarlets 77,695
• Fidelity Lions 74,594
• Glasgow Warriors 61,012
• Ospreys 49,186
• Connacht Rugby 48,027
• Dragons RFC 46,689
• Benetton Rugby 44,192
• Zebre Parma 21,900

URC Season 4 (Leinster set the all-time record)

• Leinster Rugby 241,393 (All-time URC record)
• DHL Stormers 226,377 (Second overall and a Stormers URC home record)
• Hollywoodbets Sharks 180,124
• Vodacom Bulls 126,507
• Munster Rugby 125,832
• Ulster Rugby 115,552
• Edinburgh Rugby 94,814
• Glasgow Warriors 81,046
• Cardiff Rugby 78,719
• Dragons RFC 69,601
• Connacht Rugby 67,369
• Scarlets 61,510
• Fidelity Lions 61,288
• Ospreys 60,557
• Benetton Rugby 42,083
• Zebre Parma 23,483

URC Season 5 (Two home league matches for the Stormers and Leinster respectively)

• DHL Stormers 197,737
• Leinster Rugby 158,777
• Hollywoodbets Sharks 137,428
• Vodacom Bulls 106,167
• Munster Rugby 98,752
• Edinburgh Rugby 72,549
• Ulster Rugby 71,241
• Glasgow Warriors 69,902
• Cardiff Rugby 59,018
• Connacht Rugby 51,350
• Scarlets 44,465
• Fidelity Lions 43,711
• Dragons RFC 41,745
• Ospreys 34,889
• Benetton Rugby 34,135
• Zebre Parma 21,123

What Cape Town needs to know

• URC Record (Leinster): 241,393
• Stormers Best (URC 4): 226,377
• Stormers Now (URC 5): 197,737

Cape Town has already changed the URC crowd narrative and turned the DHL Stadium into an occasion bigger than a rugby match. On Saturday, make it even bigger Cape Town with the loudest of celebrations in memory of Chippie, and a turn out that is a giant step towards breaking the league season’s URC record.

* URC 1st season: Covid restrictions

There are two rankings in South African schoolboy rugby. The published table and the results and right now they don’t match. Stellenberg are No 1. The results say so.

Stellenberg school rugby rankings 2026

The Western Cape’s Stellenberg have beaten Paarl Gimnasium, Grey College and Paul Roos Gymnasium in the last month.

They lost in the final minute to Garsfontein but any First XV in South African Schools who knocks over Paarl Gim, Grey College and Paul Roos in the same month gets this platform’s current No 1 ranking.

First XV rankings will never be an absolute because of the nature of the Schools fixtures, but they generally are an accurate gage of who leads the pack, who ranks among the elite, and who are movers and shakers.

Stellenberg, for some time, have been threatening to produce big results against the biggest traditional rugby schools, and in 2026 the promise of a school just 40 years old has translated into their best ever month of First XV rugby.

Stellenberg’s current First XV is the result of a decade of improvement and excellence. The results of the past month are not an overnight success story or a fluke.

Where First XV rankings have always fallen short is that they often start the new season with ‘carry over’ and historical ranking from the previous season, when, in many instances, it may as well be a different competition each year.

Many First XVs are complete overalls from the year before.

Grey College, for a decade, simply owned the No 1 spot because of such potency in depth from U14s upwards, with the Western Cape powerhouses Paarl Gim, Paarl Boys High (Boshaai) and Paul Roos Gim battling for the No 2 spot nationally.

In the Western Cape it was usually either Gim or Boshaai, with Paul Roos rejuvenated in the past five years, who led the provincial rankings.

Grey College, in the past month, have lost to Stellenberg and St Joseph’s Nudgee College, from Brisbane, Australia. It is the first time since 2017 that Grey College has lost two matches in succession.

Paarl Gim, beaten 20-19 by Stellenberg, will probably reclaim the Form No 1 in the next month, especialy after hammering Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies).

Garsfontein are enjoying a great start, with the one-point win against Stellenberg and upstaging Boshaai.

KEO 2026 FIRST XV SCHOOLS FORM RANKING
(RESULTS-BASED)

1. Stellenberg
2. Paarl Gimnasium
3. Garsfontein
4. Paarl Boys’ High
5. Paul Roos
6. Grey College
7. Affies
8. Oakdale
9. Westville
10. DHS

PUBLISHED RANKINGS 

• Paarl Gim
• Paarl Boys’ High
• Affies
• Paul Roos
• Grey College
• Garsfontein

(Source: Ruggas.co.za and SA School Sports rankings tables)

THE DIFFERENCE

The rankings reward consistency over time, which is why Stellenberg are not getting the acknowledgement of present results on the more traditional Schools Rankings platforms.

Rugby 365 have recognised Stellenberg in their rankings, although they rightly point out that the depth of the First XV could determine where they ened the season.

Schools Rugby Rankings

 

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It needed something Out of the Ordinary from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles to beat six-time champions Toulouse in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final.

And on Sunday they delivered such a display in winning 30-15. The victors scored 25 unanswered points in the final 30 minutes.

Toulouse, led by Antoine Dupont are an exceptional side. They are loaded with French Test players and arguably the best loose-forward in Europe in England’s Jack Willis. They have the most accurate goalkicker in the sport in fullback Thomas Ramos and they have quality in every one of the 23 match-day players.

Photo: ©INPHO/James Crombie

To reiterate, to beat Toulouse requires something Out of the Ordinary, and Bordeaux are that team.

Maxime Lucu leads a team that does not have a vulnerability. Lucu, understudy to Dupont in the French Test team, took the lead against his national captain, who was reduced to a support act in a losing Toulouse effort.

Lucu, small in stature, was a giant in everything he did. He was named the Investec Champions Cup Player of the Match and he had the privilege of nailing closed Toulouse’s tournament coffin for this season with a penalty to take the score to 30-15. He also put the final touch kick, in the 81st minute, into the stands to end the match.

Outside of him, No 10 Matthieu Jalibert took the one-on-one honours against fellow France Test No 10 Romain Ntamack.

Every one-on-one match-up was a battle worthy of a rugby war. The collisions were a treat for the purist, the intensity was that of a final and the skill, balance and fearlessness matched the positivity in intent from both champion teams.

This match was a final between the two current best club teams in the sport.

This match showed why this is the toughest club rugby competition in the world and the hardest to win.

The competition is into its 31st season and Bordeaux, for all their star-power, are two matches away from just their second star, with their maiden win coming last season against Northampton Saints.

They also beat Toulouse in the semi-finals last season.

Photo: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Bordeaux will play Johann van Graan’s Bath in the semi-final, with Jacques Nienaber’s Leinster hosting Toulon in the other semi-final.

It means there will be South African representation in all four semi-final teams, be it coaches or players.

Bordeaux and Toulouse invest astutely in foreign imports and the majority of their respective squads are French.

This match was a victory for the power of French club rugby as much as it was for the seduction of the Investec Champions Cup.

There is so much talent within French rugby, in the midfield, on the wings, and in the pack.

Not to mention the halfbacks and at fullback.

There is not a rugby nation, South Africa included, that right now has as many world class No 9s.

There is also not a more popular prop forward in France than Bordeaux’s Tongan international ‘Big’ Ben Tameifuna.

Big Ben scored a special try in the last 16 demolition of Leicester and the most significant score in Sunday’s semi-final.

Bordeaux Bègles (5) 30

Tries: Lamothe, Jalibert, Tameifuna, Retiere Cons: Lucu 2 Pens: Lucu 2

Toulouse (12) 15

Tries: Ntamack, Thomas Con: Ramos Pen: Ramos

Bordeaux: 15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Pablo Uberti, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Lucu (captain), 8 Marko Gazzotti, 7 Cameron Woki, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Boris Palu, 3 Carlü Sadie, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jefferson Poirot

Substitutes: 16 Gaetan Barlot, 17 Matis Perchaud, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Tiaan Jacobs, 20 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 21 Temo Matiu, 22 Arthur Retiere, 23 Hugo Reus

Substitutes: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Kalvin Gourgues, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Matthis Lebel, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Jack Willis, 6 François Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 1 David Ainu’u

Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Joel Merkler, 19 Joshua Brennan, 20 Leo Banos, 21 Théo Ntamack, 22 Paul Graou, 23 Blair Kinghorn

AS PER THE EPCR OFFICIAL RELEASE BELOW

South Africa will have four coaches and a handful of players in the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals, to be played in the first weekend of May.

Bath head coach Johann van Graan headlines the South Africa presence in the world’s toughest club competition.

Jacques Nienaber, the 2023 Springboks World Cup-winning coach, and a senior coach at Leinster, will experience a second home tournament semi-final with the Irish club since joining in 2024.

Nienaber has enjoyed success with Leinster in the United Rugby Championship, with the Dublin-based club winning the title for the first time last season, in what was their first final in the competition’s history, which at that stage was four seasons.

Leinster, with four Investec Champions Cup titles, have earned the right to wear four stars on their match-day jersey, but they have fallen agonisingly short in adding the fifth star in losing three finals in succession and four times in finals since winning their fourth title in the 2017/18.

Leinster won the title for the first time in their history in 2008/2009.

Bath were the first British club to win the title in the 1997/8 season, with that win coming against Brive in the French city of Bordeaux. Bath will travel to Bordeaux for the semi-final, which will be their first Investec Champions Cup semi-final in 20 years.

Bordeaux have former Springboks Shaun Sowerby (No 8) and Heinie Adams (No 9) on their coaching staff. Both men played in France for the last decade of their careers and both turned to coaching in France. They comfortably wear both the South African and French flags with great pride.

Bordeaux’s match 23 that defeated French rivals Toulouse in an epic quarter-final on Sunday, included tighthead prop Carlu Sadie, who earlier this year was included in Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’s first national alignment camp of 2026, and 21 year-old Junior Springbok flanker Tiaan Jacobs.

Nienaber’s Leinster will play three-time Investec Champions Cup title winners Toulon in Dublin in the first of the two semi-finals.

Toulon, who made history in being the first team to win the title three seasons in succession, had a strong Springboks influence in Bakkies Botha, Joe van Niekerk, Juan Smith, Bryan Habana, Danie Rossouw and Michael Claassens in those victories. Former Sharks hooker Craig Burden, who trained with the Boks but never played a match, was also a title winner at Toulon.

The Toulon match 23 that stunned Glasgow’s Warriors 22-19 on Saturday in Glasgow, was captained by former Western Province lock David Ribbans, whose professional career flourished after his move to England’s Northampton Saints.

Ribbans, born and schooled in Somerset West in the Western Cape, played 11 Tests for England, with the last of those appearances at the 2023 World Cup in France.

He moved to Toulon and is ineligible for England selection because of the RFU policy of not picking players outside of England.

Ribbans becomes eligible for the Springboks in November this year.

Ribbans captained Toulon to victory against Glasgow and was the Player of the Match in the 28-27 home win against the Stormers in the last 16 play-offs.

Franco Smith’s Glasgow were favoured to beat Toulon and host the winner of Leinster versus Sale Sharks, but with Toulon winning and Leinster winning, the Irish side got the home country advantage based on a higher seeding post the Pool stages.

Smith, the former Springboks utility back and Italian national coach, had guided Glasgow to an unbeaten campaign in the Pool stages. Glasgow finished seeded second behind Bordeaux. They then beat the Bulls 25-21 in the last 16 at Scotstoun.

Kyle Steyn, the former Maties and Griquas winger, is the captain of Glasgow. Steyn was a star in Scotland’s most recent Six Nations.

Sale’s Sharks also included four South Africans, while Van Graan’s Bath match 23 that beat Northampton’s Saints 43-21 in the most thrilling match of the weekend’s last eight, also included four South African players. Primary to this quartet is Springboks prop Thomas du Toit.

*The Stormers and Bulls both last in the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup.

AS PER THE EPCR OFFICIAL RELEASE BELOW

Chippie Solomon was never a man for silence.  Not for a minute. Not for a moment. Not for a token gesture that passes quietly and politely before the game carries on. He was about noise. The Stormers fans must celebrate his life with such noise against Connacht at the DHL Stadium on Saturday.

Chippie was energy. He was presence. He was the man moving with purpose while others were still thinking about it. He was about people, about standards, about making things happen. He was noise, laughter, detail and delivery.

So in a weekend that hits hard, that leaves a hole in Stormers rugby and in South African rugby, the most fitting tribute is not bowed heads and hushed voices.

It is applause.

It is noise.

It is a stadium that understands that some men don’t belong in silence; they belong in celebration.

Give Chippie what he lived in.

Give him what he created.

Give him the sound of a stadium this coming Saturday that understands that men with his gravitas never leave quietly. They leave behind the noise of applause.

The Life and Journey Chippie Solomon

• Christopher ‘Chippie’ Solomon passed away on Saturday morning at the age of 64
• He had served as Stormers team manager since 2004
• He was part of more than 350 matches in that role
• He was born in Newlands and raised in Bonteheuwel
• His professional life began in education, becoming a teacher, coach and later headmaster at Westridge High School
• He played as a hooker/loose forward and represented Western Province Schools (SARU structures)
• He served as Life President of Kuils River Rugby Club
• He was a SA Schools coach and selector before entering professional rugby structures
• He moved through junior team management into the senior Stormers role

Chippie was about classrooms and rugby fields, about education and inspiration.

Stormers Rugby Tribute

Stormers Rugby described him as:

• A “respected educator and administrator”
• A “loving husband and father”
• A “revered rugby man”

They emphasised his influence across:

• Players
• Coaches
• Staff
• Learners and the wider community

Within the Stormers environment, he was known as “Uncle Chippie” – a title that speaks more to presence than position.

Stormers coach John Dobson’s Tribute

John Dobson, via SA Rugby Magazine:

“Chippie was far more than a team manager. He was synonymous with this team and had a special connection with players, coaches and staff.”

Executive Reaction (Rugby365)

From Rugby365, Stormers CEO Johan le Roux said:

“We have lost a giant of the game.”

SA RUGBY President Mark Alexander – The South African

Wider Rugby Recognition

EPCR, as reported by SA Rugby Magazine, acknowledged his role:

• He played a key part in integrating South African teams into international club competitions.

Rugby365 & Sport24

Reporting from Rugby365 and Sport24 reinforces:

• He was widely seen as a father figure to players
• His nickname “Uncle Chippie” reflected his role in player welfare and culture
• He was deeply embedded in Cape rugby communities long before professionalism

Family

• Husband to Pearl
• Father to Nina and Chad
• Chad Solomon is a former Stormers player

Johann van Graan added a famous European night to his stunning CV since taking charge of Bath. He had every reason to beam as the hosts made it to the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals for the first time in 20 years. And did so in the most extraordinary way against Northampton’s Saints.

Van Graan has turned Bath from Prem basement dwellers into Prem champions, EPCR Challenge Cup champions and now Investec Champions Cup semi-finalists.

Bath won 43-41 against Northampton’s Saints, having trailed 28-7 after 25 minutes and 35-14 after 30 minutes.

Saints, last season’s beaten finalists, scored five tries in the first half-an-hour, but could only manage two penalties in the final 50 minutes, as Van Graan, a picture of calm despite the early scoreline, relied on his super sub bench, which included the in-form Springboks prop Thomas du Toit.

The match, for any neutral, was great value, and for many up north there may just be a bigger appreciation of the golden years of Super Rugby.

Back then Super Rugby was always mocked for being basketball, but Bath’s six tries to five win was the equal of many of those glorious matches in the southern hemisphere.

Bath flyhalf Finn Russell was magical and played a leading role in the miracle comeback and scrumhalf and captain Ben Spencer was as crucial in ensuring composure.

The fight back reinforces the growth of Bath from the team that faded in last season’s Investec Champions Cup Pool Stages.

Bath have lived with the expectation and turned a potential burden into a medal of courage and belief.

Individuals know their roles and the squad clearly understands the collective.

This is a squad that plays with as much humility as authority.

It starts with the coach and the on-field performance is an extension of his character.

The former Bulls and Springboks assistant coach, who spent five seasons coaching Munster before the move to Bath, is among the leading coaches in the sport.

What he has built in the past three and a half seasons is remarkable. He had an appreciation of the soul of this club and he found that what stirred the golden generation of Bath in their 1997/98 European title triumph, was present in the current generation.

The Investec Champions Cup markets itself as the greatest club rugby competition in the world and a tournament in which players and teams produce the extraordinary.

Bath v Saints was a salute to the competition’s marketing team and a great advertisement for the sport.

It was also a statement that the sport has never been healthier.

There is a curious narrative doing the rounds in Irish rugby circles, and it says far more about perception than performance. It is especially prevalent on Investec Champions Cup weekends because the Leinster narrative on Jacques Nienaber is wrong.

When Leinster lose, Nienaber is the problem. When Leinster win, Leo Cullen is the architect.

It is lazy, a convenient narrative and fundamentally dishonest.

Nienaber is a coach at Leinster and Cullen is the Director of Rugby/Head Coach.

Nienaber, the 2023 Springboks World Cup-winning coach, did not arrive in Dublin to universal applause. He arrived with baggage of unfamiliarity, and most certainly not on the back of any failure.

Nienaber is South African, proudly so, and the architect of the Springboks’ 2021 series win against the British & Irish Lions and the 2023 World Cup final win against the All Blacks.

Nienaber is defensive-minded, and he followed the aura of a golden Leinster generation that had long made winning look routine, more so in the old Pro Rugby League than in the flagship European Championship.

In Irish media and ex-player shorthand, he became the outsider walking into a system that “should” keep winning.

But systems age, cycles end and dynasties fade.

The Leinster that Nienaber inherited is not the Leinster that was formidable for a short period in Europe under Jonny Sexton. That team was driven by a once-in-a-generation No 10 general in Sexton and loaded with the heartbeat of an Irish national squad considered the best ever produced.

The Leinster, pre Nienaber’s arrival in 2024, had form, balance in age, a winning habit and unrivalled club depth in Europe. This allowed for playing two squads in different competitions, knowing that the reserve squad was still better than the majority of 1^st team choices in Pro Rugby.

This did not immediately translate to titles in the newly formed United Rugby Championship, which included South Africa’s four premier clubs. Leinster lost in the semi-finals in the first three seasons before winning a home final against the Bulls last season.

The depth in 2026 is not what it was pre-Nienaber’s arrival; neither is the players’ swagger.

The certainty has also softened.

 Yet this context is routinely ignored when Nienaber’s role is second guessed, more so by ex-players than those in the current squad.

Instead, the narrative is simplified and presented as Cullen being the calm overseer when things go right and Nienaber the disruptor when they do not.

It is a convenient narrative because the reality is a different story.

Nienaber’s first full season in the United Rugby Championship, in  2024/25, delivered a first ever competition title.

He tightened a defensive system that, for all Leinster’s attacking brilliance, had shown cracks in knockout rugby. He brought edge and instilled confrontation.

He brought a Springbok steel to a team that, at times, had been accused of playing pretty rugby without the brutality required to close out the biggest matches.

And yet, even in success, the credit felt diluted.

Contrast that with the narrative around Johann van Graan at Bath.

Van Graan inherited a broken club – his words, not mine – and has been rightly celebrated for dragging it back into relevance. Every Bath win is framed as a triumph of coaching. Every step forward is his rebuild of his culture and his system.

Equally Franco Smith at Glasgow.

The former Springboks utility back and Italian national coach has transformed Glasgow, winning a URC title away from home when they beat the Bulls at Loftus in Pretoria, and turning Glasgow into one of the most respected clubs in Europe.

Smith has been praised, and rightly so. His fingerprints are everywhere in style and identity.

But in Dublin, the same generosity is not extended.

Why?

Because, somewhere between Leinster being the extra at a wedding for two decades, they got to be the groom.

Short-term success – four Investec Champions Cup titles in 30 attempts – is told as if it were 30 title wins, which has created the illusion that this is a club that has never experienced failed campaigns.

For 26 of the last 30 seasons, Leinster were not the Kings of Europe and in four URC seasons, they have worn the crown just once.

Nienaber is the not the reason for Leinster’s indifference when they don’t field 23 internationals in their match 23.

The former Boks coach has never been a passenger in Leinster’s successes since his arrival in 2024, nor is he the sole author of their failures.

Nienaber’s contract with Leinster ends in June 2027 and he has yet to confirm what his future holds.

I do hope it is in South Africa.

Courtesy of Keo Uncut on Times Live Sport

Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar produced the most complete performance in the Investec Champions Cup against Glasgow to be the latest STECO Hybrid Power Tool Hero.

Every week, on the Keo & Zels Show, a winner is picked from the most hybrid performance of the weekend’s action.

I loved the performances of Bordeaux’s flying French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Bordeaux’s Tongan prop ‘Big Ben’ Tameifuna in the Investec Champions Cup last 16 win against Leicester, but there is always a South African first policy and it came down to the Stormers or Bulls.

Here’s how the discussion went.

26:40 – Keo

Alright, you give me yours and I’ll give you mine, then we’ve got to make a choice.

26:45 – Zels

Mate, I thought the one Sacha created for Imaad Khan the Bishops duo, under the sticks just the way they cut the game open. It was so tight, they weren’t making metres anywhere, and then he just pulled something incredible out of nowhere.

For me, that was the moment, but I’m very happy to defer to your option.

27:06 – Keo

Look mate, I knew you were going to go with that, and I was going to go with that too. But people are going to say: you guys live in Cape Town, you support the Stormers, they’ve got the nicer jersey, nicest team, nicest stadium, nicest weather, Zels was on a boat catching tuna, you were in Arniston Paradise at the Arniston Hotel why do you always go Stormers?

So I looked at another game and looked at Johan Grobbelaar’s try for the Bulls the day before. Offload, Johan Grobbelaar on the wing in those incredibly tough conditions, sliding in and scoring.

Then I went to the EPCR homepage 24 hours later and looked at his match stats. He played 80 minutes. Twenty-five tackles. Four dominant tackles.

As much as I want to give it to the Bishops one-two, I just want to give it to Grobbies and show that I’m not biased and I do watch rugby independently.

But it’s up to you.

28:32 – Zels

No mate, I like that. I think that’s a great shout. Let’s go with Grobbies.

He and Marco van Staden started in those kilts, driving them crazy, and that seemed to bring out the best in them. He had a great game. Spectacular try and a great effort for the Bulls in that match.

And I believe it’s that 48-hour build-up where they can ham it up in those kilts and loosen up it gets them going.

An incredible performance from Grobbies.

We know Malcolm Marx, without comparison, is number one for the Boks and one of the best in the world. Dan Sheehan is pushing him. Peato Mauvaka is right there too.

But in South Africa, Grobbelaar has certainly entrenched himself as number two. Probably Andre-Hugo Venter behind him as number three at the moment.

But jeez, he was good.

29:02 – Keo

And thanks to Zels, he is our Ryobi Steco Power Tool hero of the week.

 

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Johann van Graan took over the worst Bath side of the professional era and, in three seasons, rebuilt them and turned them into the best team in England and contenders for the ultimate club prize of the Investec Champions Cup.

Johann van Graan and Bath

Bath host Northampton Saints in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final on Friday night.

Van Graan’s Bath, winners of last season’s EPCR Challenge Cup, are chasing the club’s second European star. They were the first British team to win the biggest rugby club title in Europe, beating French club Brive 19–18 in the final in Bordeaux with Jon Callard scoring all the points for Bath.

Despite winning two EPCR Challenge Cup titles, it has been a long wait in between drinks for the second star and the crown of rugby’s Kings of Europe.

Van Graan, in 2022, inherited a mess at Bath.

The former Springboks assistant coach and Munster head coach arrived in Bath as a system coach, a rugby man and a detail obsessive shaped under former Bulls and Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer, where the philosophy is on team, family and winning.

His five seasons as head coach at Ireland’s Munster, where he succeeded Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber, were influential in shaping his mentality and maturity for the challenge of fixing Bath.

At Bath, he stripped everything back.

He fixed conditioning.
He fixed defensive alignment.
He fixed clarity of role.

And most importantly, he fixed belief.

The result is a team that now knows exactly who it is.

From bottom to champions: the Bath rebuild

The scale of the rebuild is best understood in hard numbers.

Year one was about credibility. Year two was about contention. They went to Twickenham and lost a final, but Van Graan insisted they would be back 12 months later to win the title.

Year three was about winning and Van Graan was true to his word. They topped the table, controlled the knockouts and won the final.

The 2025/26 shift: Bath the European force

This season has confirmed that Bath are England’s best and also a European threat.

They topped their Investec Champions Cup pool.

Last 16

What Van Graan has actually changed

He has won trophies, but the real shift is deeper because Bath are now respected as a team that is:

• Physically dominant
• Structurally sound
• Game-aware
• Emotionally controlled

They have a magician at flyhalf in Scotland’s Finn Russell, a talisman in Springboks prop Thomas du Toit and a group of players and coaches that refuse to settle for second best.

Why this quarter-final matters

Van Graan has taken Bath from broken to the bosses of English rugby, but the legacy in Europe is defined by winning the Investec Champions Cup.

Coaching Career

David Ribbans would comfortably slot into Rassie Erasmus’s Springboks squad.

At the Stade Mayol, starring for Toulon against the Stormers in the Investec Champions Cup last 16, Ribbans delivered a statement performance.

David Ribbans is a Bok in waiting – if he wants it

Ribbans was named Investec Champions Cup Player of the Match in Toulon’s dramatic 28-27 win. They travel to Glasgow for this weekend’s quarter-final.

Ribbans, born in Somerset West in the Western Cape, started his professional career at Western Province and the Stormers, but relocated to England, where he qualified to play for England through ancestry.

He played in the 2023 World Cup for England, but moved to Toulon after the World Cup. England’s selection policy excludes any players outside of the English Premiership, Prem Rugby, and Ribbans would have served a three year stand down period, given that his last Test for England was at the 2023 World Cup.

World Rugby’s amended eligibility rules allow for a player to represent two different countries, if a three-year stand down period has been served, and if that player qualifies through birth, citizenship or ancestry.

EPCR

Munster’s Jean Kleyn left the Stormers several years ago and qualified on residency for Ireland. He played in the 2019 World Cup under Joe Schmidt, but when Andy Farrell took over as Ireland coach he never selected lock forward Kleyn.

Erasmus picked Kleyn in 2023 for the Springboks, took him to the World Cup in France, and Kleyn is now a World Cup winner.

Ribbans, among the best second rowers in the Top 14 and Investec Champions Cup this season, has previously been asked about making himself available for the Springboks. He was not certain he would do so, in media interviews saying he felt that he had drawn a line in the sand with England, and owed it to England not to play for his country of birth should there be such an opportunity.

That interview was done at the beginning of 2025, and by the end of 2026 he may have had a change of heart, especially with England’s selection policy unlikely to change.

The 30 year-old Ribbans, who was in doubt for last Saturday’s against his old mates, which included WP under 20 locking partner JD Schiekerling, was colossal in his play and leadership. When subbed in the 76th minute, he was named the Player of the Match.

Ribbans’ career at a glance

Ribbons’ early career with Western Province & Stormers

In 2014, with Western Province U19, he went from bench to starter in a week and didn’t move. There was a decisive try in a 21–20 win against Eastern Province, nine wins from twelve in the league, and then the beating of Free State in the semi-final and the Bulls 33–26 in Cape Town in the final. 

2015 was the step up, with a Stormers pre-season run, a first-class debut for Western Province in the Vodacom Cup, and then back to the U21 competition. He played ten matches, scored a try in the semi-final against the Lions, and another in the final as Province put 52–17 on Free State in Johannesburg for back-to-back titles.

In 2016, he was in the Stormers squad but didn’t play. He played for WP under 21s and WP’s senior side.

*With the Stormers and Bulls eliminated in intense Last 16 Play-off matches, there is no South African club representation in this weekend’s Last Eight play-offs. But there are several South Africans still involved, as players and coaches.

Ribbans is one of them and Bath’s Springboks prop Thomas du Toit is another. Du Toit was outstanding in Bath’s win against Saracens and was named Player of the Match.

Du Toit is returning to the Sharks in South Africa at the completion of this season’s English Prem Rugby competition.

As many as 12 South African-born players and four South African-born coaches will be in action this weekend as the Investec Champions Cup gets narrowed to just four teams.

Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals (SA times)
Friday, 10 April
Bath vs Northampton Saints (9pm)
Saturday, 11 April 
Glasgow Warriors vs Toulon (4pm)
Leinster vs Sale Sharks (6:30pm)
Sunday, 12 April
Bordeaux Bègles vs Toulouse (4pm)

The Stormers lost by a point in Toulon and the Bulls trailed by a point when the final hooter went in Glasgow to end South Africa’s participation in the 2025/26 Investec Champions Cup play-offs. It was heartbreak for both visiting teams.

These were last 16 play-off matches I felt the Stormers and Bulls could win and both will feel there were enough opportunities to turn the pre-match hope and hype into historic wins and a first ever Investec Champions Cup quarter-final in South Africa.

The Stormers were desperately unfortunate not to win in Toulon.

The match officiating unfortunately dominated the post-match reaction with the Stormers understandably aggrieved at the on-field and TMO decisions they felt should have resulted in a penalty try in the closing stages and a match-winning try-scoring effort after the final whistle.

The on-field decisions favoured the hosts, as did the TMO call to end the match with a ‘held up’ decision, with Toulon 28-27 victors.

The Stormers will feel this was missed chance at a famous win at the Stade Mayol, and they wouldn’t be wrong.

But as much as they can question the officiating, they must also question their on-field decision-making in the final minutes, when the visitors opted for repeated pick and go drives to score the match winning try, when the option of a drop goal or exploiting a two player advantage among the backs could have provided a definitive match-winning score.

Toulon have struggled in the Top 14, with just nine wins in 20, and despite their one-point last 16 Investec Champions Cup win, look unlikely to go further than the visit to Glasgow next weekend in the last eight.

Glasgow, leading the Bulls 22-21, with two minutes to go, punished a poor Bulls kick-off exit in the final 100 seconds of the match, to force a series of penalties close to the Bulls try-line before counting down the clock until after the hooter, to guarantee the win with a successful penalty kick.

Glasgow, who trailed 14-12 at the break, outscored the Bulls four tries to two, to win 25-22.

The Stormers and Bulls were heroic in attitude, spirit and refusal to be beaten until the final whistle, but both South African teams were guilty of not maximising strong attacking positions and falling short in play-off game management.

I’d so the Stormers, more so than the Bulls.

The Stormers were opened up too easily in the first half, with Toulon exposing a passive and tight Stormers defence, with effective use of the width of the field and accurate long passing.

The Stormers were stronger at the scrum and more dangerous in transition play, but again the kicking game was not consistent with a winning performance.

The Bulls kicking game, with a strong wind in the first 40 minutes in Glasgow, was also lacking in accuracy and conviction.

Conditions in Toulon were ideal, so execution is the issue, whereas in Glasgow it was a lottery kicking with the wind and into the wind, with the hosts much more adapt and familiar with conditions.

Individually, there are big plays from Springboks contenders in Toulon and in Glasgow, but ironically the only South African in the Toulon side, former Western Province and Stormers lock David Ribbans, was named Player of the Match.

Ribbans, who played for England in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, is ineligible for England selection because he plays his club rugby in France. If England does not select him before the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, he is eligible for Springboks selection, as was the case with Munster lock Jean Kleyn, who played for Ireland in the 2019 World Cup and won gold with the Springboks at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

In Glasgow there were also South African winners in the Glasgow captain Kyle Steyn and coach Franco Smith, although Steyn is very much an adopted son of Scotland and Smith is already viewed as an honoury Scot.

There will be obvious disappointment from the Stormers and Bulls that they are out of Europe’s toughest and biggest club rugby competition, but the positive is the nature of their respective performances and the character they showed, if viewed in the context of the final two months of the United Rugby Championship.

The Stormers, currently second in the league to Glasgow, and the Bulls, in eighth but a win away from the top four, will believe they have the pedigree to win the title.

The timing in form and fortune from Handre Pollard is perfect for the Bulls and Boks. Pollard is the key to the Bulls beating Glasgow in the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup.

Handre Pollard perfect for Bulls and Boks

Handre Pollard, a back to back World Cup winner, and the holder of the most points in World Cup final history, 34, will be critical to the Boks chase for an unprecedented third successive World Cup in Australia in 2027.

Pollard scored 22 points in the Boks 32-12 World Cup final win against England in Japan in 2019 and four years later he kicked all 12 points in the Boks 12-11 win against the All Blacks in France.

Right now, on the basis of the 2025 Test season, the Stormers No 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, is the Bok incumbent, and Japanese-based Manie Libbok is also in the Boks squad.

But Pollard, used sparingly in the 2025 season, remains the big match, big moment clutch player.

When the pressure rises and the room gets tight, Pollard owns the space.

He will have to do so in Glasgow, when the high-flying Scots host the Bulls in the Investec Champions Cup last 16

This is not a debate about the value and worth of the brilliant Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Go quote Stormers coach John Dobson, Sacha is ‘a national rugby treasure’, nor is it a dismissal of Libbok.

This is about Pollard, too easily dismissed by those with recency bias and short-term memory.

The Bulls No 10 remains the best in closing a game, as was evident with his two long range penalties against Munster a week ago. The two clutch strikes ensured the Bulls played the frantic final few minutes with a single score lead.

Boks coach Rassie Erasmus never has to be reminded of the qualities of Pollard. It was Erasmus, who last year, kept on introducing Pollard’s name when the South African public was quick to forget there were three world-class No 10s in the Boks squad and not just Libbok and Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

The phrase “big players step up in big moments” is overused, but with Pollard it is accurate.

Play-off rugby is about territory, percentages, game management, accuracy and goalkicking.

Pollard delivers in every facet, as we witnessed in 2019 and 2023 on Rugby’s biggest international nights.

Keo, Zels and Bok legend Bryan Habana talk Investec Champions Cup last 16

The Stormers are second in the URC, have won 11 of 14 matches, and won three from four in the Pool stages of the Investec Champions Cup.

For them to win against Toulon at the Stade Mayol in Toulon, France, in the Investec Champions Cup last 16, it will require the combination of Feinberg-Mngomezulu and specialist No 10 Julie Matthee to produce the near perfect combined match performances.

It will also need the Stormers pack to at least match the hosts.

The Stormers scrum and line out is good enough to dominate any opponent.

Discipline will be non-negotiable but to continue the narrative of the week, both the Bulls and Stormers have the cattle to bring South Africa reward this weekend.

Easter weekend is schoolboy rugby’s biggest stage in South Africa, where reputations are made, bragging rights are reinforced and many of the country’s future Springboks will be on display. Mostly it is the biggest school rugby carnival of the year because it is South Africa school rugby Easter festivals 2026

The beauty of the festivals is that schools brings squads and mix and match to play two matches in three days.

It also gives the best of each province a chance to experience other provincial schools, with the Festivals also inviting schools from overseas.

South Africa School Rugby Easter Festivals 2026:

In 2026, the Schools Rugby landscape is bigger and more diluted than ever, with traditional festivals at Kearsney, St John’s, St Stithians and King Edward VII running alongside an expanded calendar that now includes a major Pretoria Boys High 125-year celebration festival.

The Festivals are more than getting a ‘W’, and it is more about a celebration of the South African Schools rugby landscape, through exposure, opposition strength and platform reach.

THE PLATFORMS DRIVING SA SCHOOLBOY RUGBY

1. SchoolboyRugby.co.za (PRIMARY HUB)

• Daily fixtures, results, festival previews
• Most consistent festival coverage (KES, St John’s, St Stithians, Kearsney)
• Provincial segmentation (WP, KZN, Noordvaal, EP)
• Breaking team news and squad tracking

 The closest thing to a central database of SA school rugby

2. SuperSport Schools

• Video-first platform
• Festival livestreams and highlights
• Multi-sport integration (rugby + hockey + athletics)
• Covers major festivals like Saints Festival

 Best for visibility and broadcast reach

3. Rugby365 (Schools Section)

• Big-picture calendar
• Tournament previews and context
• Connects schools rugby to pro pathway

4. Ruggas.co.za

5. SARugbymag (Schools section)

6. SA School Sports

• Rankings-driven ecosystem
• Cross-sport credibility

H2: 2026 EASTER FESTIVALS  

1. KEARSNEY EASTER RUGBY FESTIVAL (KZN) 2, 4, 6 April 2026

Key Schools:

• Kearsney
• Glenwood
• Durban HS
• Westville
• Framesby
• Rustenburg
• Dr EG Jansen
• International: Peterhouse (Zimbabwe), Irish schools

Format:

• 12 top schools
• 3 match days
• Includes primary schools + girls fixtures

2. ST JOHN’S COLLEGE EASTER FESTIVAL (JHB)

 2, 4, 6 April 2026

Key Schools (confirmed returning powerhouses):

• Grey College
• Monument
• Bishops

Traditionally the most balanced fixture list, with elite vs elite match-ups.

3. KES EASTER RUGBY FESTIVAL (JHB)

 4–6 April 2026 (fixtures released)

Notable Match-ups:

• KES vs St Andrew’s
• Dale vs Worcester Gim
• Northwood vs Marlow

4. ST STITHIANS EASTER FESTIVAL

5. PRETORIA BOYS HIGH 125TH FESTIVAL (NEW POWER PLAYER)

3–6 April 2026

Early Confirmed Schools:

• Affies
• Grey High
• Jeppe
• Maritzburg College
• Michaelhouse
• Rondebosch
• SACS
• Selborne

A festival strong enough to split the traditional Easter talent pool.

ALL THE FESTIVAL MATCHES

KEARSNEY
Thursday, 2nd April

Helpmekaar 24 Glenwood 5
Transvalia 26 Peterhouse 5
Westville 83 Framesby 0
Kearsney 43 Rustenburg 14
EG Jansen 27 Milnerton 20
Durban HS 31 Zwartkop 14

Saturday, 4th April

Kearsney College 33 Transvalia 13
Framesby 15 Glenwood 14
DHS 38 Hoërskool Rustenburg 7
Peterhouse 29 Milnerton 23
Zwartkop 41 EG Jansen 32

Monday, 6th April

Framesby 10 Transvalia 7
Glenwood 14 EG Jansen 12
Rustenburg 26 Peterhouse 17
Westville 41 Milnerton 3
Durban HS 39 Helpmekaar 27
Kearsney 22 Zwartkop 19

SCHOOLS WRAP: Jade Brigade shock Grey College

KES
Saturday

Hudson Park 37 Worcester Gim 10
Pearson 56 Eldoraigne 14
Northwood 47 Marlow 7
Cranbrook (Australia) 29 Dale 24
Queen’s 13 Noordheuwel 7
KES 45 St Andrew’s 12

Monday

Hudson Park 17 Eldoraigne 10
Dale 15 Worcester Gim 7
Noordheuwel 29 Marlow 5
Pearson 26 Cranbrook (Australia) 14
Northwood 52 St Andrew’s 21
KES 33 Queen’s 13

ST JOHN’S

St John’s Day 1 results:
Grey College Cherries 38 Noordheuwel 2nd XV 14
Golden Lions XV 38 Welkom Gim 36
St Albans 11 St Josephs Nudgee 2nd XV 24
St Benedict’s 5 Graeme College 57
Kingswood 40 St David’s 5
Monument 56 Westlake 35
Grey College 26 St Josephs Nudgee 29
Hilton 68 Nelspruit 14
St John’s 7 Bishops 26

Saturday

St David’s 28 Randburg 26
Nudgee 2nd XV 48 St Benedict’s 7
Nelspruit 24 St Alban’s 21
Monument 43 Kingswood 27
St John’s 24 Golden Lions XV 19
Graeme College 39 Bishops 26
Westlake Boys’ High 36 Welkom Gim 26
Hilton College 17 Nudgee 12

Monday

Westlake 42 Randburg 8

ST STITHIANS
Thursday

Hartpury 2nd XV 14 Windhoek HS 25
St Stithians 21 St John’s (Harare) 24
Mali XV 34 Clifton 21
St Charles 7 Northcliff 18
Kempton Park 27 Pietersburg 15
Hartpury 14 Middelburg 21
Wynberg 84 Garsfontein Inv XV 0

Saturday

Hartpury College 47 Garsfontein Invitational XV 18
Northcliff 40 Windhoek 35
St John’s College (Harare) 22 Clifton College 18
St Charles 24 Kempton Park 17
Hartpury 2nd XV 55 Mzwandile Mali XV 33
Hoërskool Pietersburg 27 Hoërskool Middelburg 14
Wynberg Boys’ High 28 St Stithians 12

Monday

Windhoek HS 47 Mali XV 35
Hartpury 54 Northcliff 20
Kempton Park 47 Garsfontein Inv XV 18
Pietersburg 38 St John’s (Harare) 18

PRETORIA BOYS’
Saturday

Maritzburg College 35 Jeppe 12
Michaelhouse 29 Affies 26
Rondebosch 57 Selborne 17
Grey High 40 Parktown Boys’ 18
Pretoria Boys’ High 35 SACS 34

Monday

Selborne 26 Parktown 5
Maritzburg College 24 SACS 7
Affies 59 Grey High 19
Michaelhouse 40 Jeppe 36
Pretoria Boys High 20 Rondebosch 43

South Africa’s Investec Champions Cup dream is alive. The Bulls and Stormers are 80 minutes away from giving South African rugby one of its biggest club moments in Europe.

It is there for them.

The equation is simple enough. The Stormers must beat Toulon at Stade Mayol. The Bulls must beat Glasgow in Glasgow. Do that, and South Africa gets an Investec Champions Cup quarter-final in Cape Town.

The opportunity is real because both teams travel with form, belief and ambition. The Stormers are second in the URC after 11 wins from 14. The Bulls are eighth, but close enough to the top five to underline how competitive they remain despite their uneven start. More importantly, both coaching groups have made it clear that Europe matters and that they are going north to win.

It will not be easy. Winning in France is never easy. Winning in Glasgow against Franco Smith’s well-drilled Warriors is one of the hardest assignments in club rugby at the moment. But South African rugby should not shrink from that challenge.

The Stormers do not have to beat the ghost of Toulon’s golden age. This is not the side of Wilkinson, Habana, Bakkies, Juan Smith and Joe van Niekerk. It is a good team, but not that team. Likewise, the Bulls know they are up against quality in Glasgow, but not invincibility.

Why Toulon are dangerous, but beatable

The biggest mistake the Stormers can make this week is to play Toulon’s history instead of Toulon’s present.

That jersey still carries weight and the Stade Mayol carries noise and intimidation. And for South Africans of a certain rugby generation, Toulon still triggers images of a Galactico side stacked with giants of the game.

But this is not that Toulon.

That team was rugby’s heavyweight collection of killers. This one is not.

That does not mean Toulon are soft. They still have quality, but this is not a team that should paralyse the Stormers with its reputation.

In fact, it is a game the Stormers should believe they can win.

There is also a psychological layer to Toulon’s season. If their Top 14 campaign is drifting, then Europe becomes the rescue act. French sides often make a call early. If the league matters more, they manage Europe accordingly. But when the domestic route tightens, the Investec Champions Cup becomes everything. That makes Toulon desperate, but it also makes them exposed.

The Stormers’ job is to strip the occasion of mythology and play the team in front of them.

If the Stormers get their set piece right, manage territory properly and convert pressure into points, this tie is there for them. The challenge is real, but so is the opportunity. Respect must not be confused with fear.

Bulls have the game to ambush Glasgow

The Bulls have enough to make this a very dangerous early evening for the hosts.

What has become clearer in recent weeks is that, aligned to the obvious power of the Bulls, they also have pace and control, and the combination is what gives them a puncher’s chance of doing real damage in Scotland.

World Cup winning flyhalf Handré Pollard brings composure and knockout temperament. World Cup winner Willie le Roux brings vision, tempo control and the sort of rugby intelligence that settles a team in pressure moments. Embrose Papier is thriving behind a forward pack that gives him front-foot ball, and when he sees space around the fringes he is still one of the quickest nines in the country.

Then there is the finishing speed. Cheswill Jooste’s recent score was a reminder that the Bulls are not just built to grind.

The other factor is momentum. The Bulls have recovered impressively from a poor start to the season. They have found more balance, more shape and more clarity under Johan Ackermann.

Glasgow should be favourites. They are at home, they are settled and they know how to win big games. But the Bulls have enough class, enough experience and enough edge to flip this tie.

Keo & Zels unpacked it on this week’s show, and the message was clear: this is real.

It starts with the Stormers in Toulon.

Keo touched on it, and Zels backed it the Stormers don’t need more magic. They need more control.

South Africans flood the Investec Champions Cup play-offs

Cheswill Jooste is the STECO Hybrid Power Tool Hero of the Week, beating off some vintage performances from players in every South African United Rugby Championship Team.

Zels, on the Keo & Zels Show, nominated his contenders.

ZELS:
Right. For the Lions, Nico Steyn had a big game, and I thought Quan Horn was outstanding too. Very hybrid player, involved in everything.

For the Sharks, not a vintage attacking performance, but Jurenzo Julius had good moments and there were some quality touches.

For the Bulls, that is probably where my winner comes from. Cheswill Jooste for that try. Just pure speed. Absolute exhibition stuff.

And for the Stormers, there were a couple. Ntuthuko Mchunu showed great pace for his try, and then I loved the one off the opposition scrum with Deon Fourie diving on the ball at the death.

Those are my main nominations.

KEO:
You have to look at the individual brilliance of some of those moments, but for me it has to come from the Bulls game.

There had to be something very special to beat what Nizaam Carr did last week, and there had to be something spectacular to top Handré Pollard winning a turnover in the sixth minute to deny Munster a try-scoring opportunity, and then banging over two clutch long-range penalties in the final quarter of the 34-31 win.

But what beats it? Pure gas. Jooste. That is athletics. Jake White used to say it all the time. Winners need pace. And when you watch Jooste score, it is like watching a guy run the bend in the 200 metres.

That was just out-and-out speed. Special player.

ZELS:
And the beautiful thing is that because of guys like Bryan Habana, Gio Aplon, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse, we are not guessing anymore about whether that kind of pace translates at top level. We know it does.

And when you make 29 other professional players on the field look slow, you have got something serious.

KEO:
So there we have it. This week’s Ryobi Steco Hybrid Power Tool Hero on the show is Cheswill Jooste of the Bulls, and maybe soon of the Springboks too.

The Bulls beat Munster 34-31 in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

 

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The English Prem does it carry the global romance of France’s Top 14, but when it comes to substance, resilience, week-in, week-out brutality, it remains one of the toughest proving grounds in club rugby. And seven Prem clubs in the Investec Champions Cup last 16 makes the statement even stronger.

Prem depth, URC momentum and French power define Investec Champions Cup knockouts

The Top 14 has four clubs left in the play-offs and the United Rugby Championship has five, including South Africa’s Stormers and Bulls.

The Prem gets a lot of stick, especially in South Africa, but it is a power league and the English club challenge in the Investec Champions Cup is always strong.

The narrative has long been that the French Top 14 is the sport’s financial and cultural powerhouse, a league of global appeal, stacked with internationals from every corner of the rugby world. It is true because nearly half the league is made up of foreign talent but what the Prem lacks in glamour, it makes up with performance in Europe.

The Premier produces teams conditioned for knockout rugby. And this season, that edge has translated into European relevance, with seven clubs carrying England’s flag into the last 16.

The URC’s initial Champions Cup challenge was in Ireland’s Leinster, but this season Glasgow’s Warriors and the Stormers have made an even bigger statement than four-time champions Leinster.

Five URC teams in the knockout stages tells its own story of evolution, of South African influence, and of a competition that has hardened dramatically in the last three seasons.

At the centre of this are the Cape Town-based Stormers.

They have won three of four in the Champions Cup pool stages and 11 of 14 in the URC. Only the Glasgow Warriors have been better in the URC, and even that gap feels fragile given the Stormers’ balance between power and invention.

Glasgow’s URC and Champions Cup returns are the benchmark in the 2025/26 season, and they have matured from pretenders of in Europe to genuine title contenders, with their win at home against Toulouse in the pool stages one of the great nights of Champions Cup history.

France arrive at this weekend’s knockouts with fewer numbers but familiar menace.

Toulouse and Bordeaux are proper title contenders, and the bracket has guaranteed that one will reach the semi-finals. If both win at home in the last 16, as they should, then defending champions Bordeaux will host Toulouse in the last eight.

Bordeaux, brilliant in an unbeaten the Investec Champions Cup pool campaign, are the contradiction that defines French rugby.

Just 12 wins from 20 in the Top 14 suggests inconsistency, and vulnerability in depth, but in the Champions Cup, with their internationals available, they have been the most potent attacking force in the competition, with a set piece to match their terrific transition play.

Home advantage is massive in the Champions Cup. Historically, away play-off wins have been rare, but there has been enough evidence this season that what always seemed improbable, like travelling and winning in the last 16, is not to be dismissed on the evidence of history.

I sense a different history being written this weekend, one that favours form.