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Premiership club secures a March friendly versus URC's Stormers
Next month’s trip to Mattioli Woods Welford Road won’t be the only time that the Stormers will play in England during the 2023/24 season.
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The Cape Town-based URC franchise are set to tackle Leicester Tigers on December 10 in the opening round of the Investec Champions Cup, but they will return to the East Midlands 13 weeks later to take on Northampton Saints in a friendly.
The Stormers will be going to great lengths to play the match as the exhibition will fall between two URC fixtures scheduled in South Africa. John Dobson’s side are set to play the Bulls in Pretoria on March 2 and their next league match after that is in Cape Town on March 23 versus Edinburgh.
With the Gallagher Premiership now just a 10-team league following the demise of Worcester, Wasps and London Irish, English clubs have been looking at ways to pad out their schedule.
Northampton will now follow up their early-season encounter with the Barbarians by welcoming the Stormers to Franklin’s Gardens on the same day that England host Ireland in Twickenham in round four of the Guinness Six Nations.
A storm is coming ??
For the first time ever, we will take on @THESTORMERS when they visit cinch Stadium @FranklinsGdns!
The blockbuster clash – which is included in the 2023/24 Season Ticket – takes place on Sat 9 March.
— Northampton Saints ? (@SaintsRugby) November 23, 2023
A statement read: “Northampton Saints are delighted to announce that the DHL Stormers will head to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens this spring for a blockbuster exhibition clash. The men in Black Green and Gold will welcome the Cape Town-based DHL Stormers – last season’s URC runners-up and Champions Cup quarter-finalists – on Saturday, March 9 (kick-off: 3pm).
“The fixture will be included in 2023/24 season ticket holders’ packages and falls during the Six Nations when Saints will be on an extended break from Gallagher Premiership action – adding an important clash into the calendar as Phil Dowson’s side prepare to begin the end-of-season run in.
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“Saints have never before locked horns with the South African side. John Dobson’s squad boasts a number of Springbok players (who recently represented world champions South Africa at the Rugby World Cup) amongst their ranks, and the DHL Stormers are set to break new ground as they take to the hallowed turf in Northampton for the first time ever.”
Saints CEO Mark Darbon said: “We’re very excited to welcome the DHL Stormers to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens next year. Securing another unique, competitive and meaningful fixture here at the Gardens has been a key priority for us over the last few months, in line with our aim to deliver the best value for money for our season ticket holders, ever since it became clear that the Premiership would be condensed into a 10-team competition this season.
“This fixture takes us to 16 home matches during the 2023/24 campaign and I hope our supporters will recognise the efforts we have made to host this extra match against a top-quality side who we have never faced before in the long history of the club and turn out in their droves to support Saints.
“As well as serving up a great afternoon of action for our season ticket holders, this is important for the squad from a performance point of view. There is a long gap between Premiership matches during the Six Nations period, and our first-team players will need some game time to properly prepare for the run-in to the campaign.
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“I know Phil Dowson and the squad are relishing the prospect of testing themselves against new opposition of very high calibre, and no doubt will be taking the opportunity to field a strong side.”
Stormers coach Dobson added: “Northampton are a prestigious opponent and cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens is an iconic rugby venue, so this has the makings of an epic exhibition game.
“Both teams have incredibly passionate supporters and this will be an historic occasion for all involved as we break new ground, so there is a lot to look forward to.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Probably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
198 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
198 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
2 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
198 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
2 Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
4 Go to commentsHow did it end a draw. South Africa didn’t score any points as far as I can see
4 Go to commentsNo doubt this will be a fantastic occasion and I plan to be there, but I think the bean counters have won out over the rugby brains. In my opinion, it is foolhardy to give the Black Ferns the experience of playing in front of 60,000+ at Twickenham a year before they might be playing there in a World Cup Final. Better to play France at Twickenham and Black Ferns at Kingsholm. The difference in takings would be miniscule.
1 Go to commentsDom kant
198 Go to commentsBen is a little incel desperately trying to stir the pot and stay relevant. We used to get mad at his articles. Now we just feel sorry for him
198 Go to commentsPerhaps we may need to put an asterisk on NZ’s ‘87 WC win since the Boks weren’t there. You know, just as a reminder. Poor Ben Smith. Go cry somewhere else.
198 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
5 Go to commentsThanks for a much more balanced piece Ned and not that BS that Bin Smuth just posted a short while ago. read this article and then Bin Smuth’s and tell me there isn’t a huge difference🙄
5 Go to commentsWere the Baby Boks part of this game or did the Baby Blacks play themselves?🤔 That man Bin Smuth once again does a little write-up on the game and it is like 95% about the Baby Blacks🤣 Glad he ends off with the Baby Blacks were actually in cruise control for most of the game and weren’t actually playing for the win WTF🤣🤣 Maybe he was expecting the Baby Blacks to run rampant….
4 Go to commentsOne does not expect anything more from Ben Smith who epitomises the worst of New Zealand media arrogance and an inability to balance what he has to say about any team that beats the All Blacks. His reference to context is pathetically thin. He does not comment that Frizell deserved a red card given his blatant manipulation of his body to ensure that he could drop his body weight onto Mbonambi’s lower leg. No mention of the ball lost forward before the All Black’s try (lost in-field of the 5 metre line and gathered beyond). The All Black commitment and effort was superb and there was little in it. Given the Springbok passage to the final and the loss of their hooker in the first three minutes, their resolve and capacity to win their fourth final out of eight attempts (not three out of ten) deserves the praise that has been forthcoming from media around the world, worth reading and listening to. Ben should join his “pundit” friends on TV - he would fit in well. This sort of article reduces any credibility Rugby Pass has ever had. Why persist with this sort of nonsense? The man does his country and a rugby blog a disservice.
198 Go to commentsEtzebeth went on to say: “I would never dream of saying that systems stay in place following a change in captain. To say that would be deeply, deeply, disrespectful of Siya. A while back an Irish person told me they would be fine without Sexton, so I’m just responding to that.”
3 Go to commentsClose games are what we want to see…. What a match it was…. I am sure that everyone was drained by the end of it. The reality of it all there has to be a winner and a loser. The fact that we still talking about it is almost 6 months to the day Rugby is the winner.. Asante sana… Here is to 2027 and what it will bring out.
198 Go to commentsIt’s going to be a good game. COYQ
1 Go to comments“Shock”, the guy was casually saying he was just slightly surprised. Nowadays if you say anything it gets taken completely out of context. Calm down everyone.
156 Go to commentsAll I can say after reading this bitter, sour, sad piece is… Thank you very much! This will be read in the change room just before kick off on 31 August…
198 Go to comments