De Wet wants to make it special for Breyton
The captain was encouraged by last week’s performance against the Chiefs when they went down narrowly in a highly entertaining match.
“Yes, we played much better than before last Saturday. The intensity and the urgency were much higher. I think the mistakes we made on the defence early on in the game put a lot of pressure on us, as we had to try and catch up with them from early on.
“The eventual difference was a direct result of those mishaps on defence.”
Barry added that one or two soft tries later on also counted against the Stormers. “If we could get our defence right it will go well over the weekend,” he said.
He said the defensive system is quite a complicated one and you cannot really blame one player, as it is a team effort. “I know the one try came about because of an error I made, but a lot of things work together in a defensive system.”
The midfield general said South Africa’s derbies normally bring the best out of the players. “The rivalry will always be there and it is a big thing – I don’t know exactly what makes it so big, but it has always been like that.
“The guys are normally well prepared for a derby. For us it is an important game, because we want to finish on a high note at Newlands.”
Barry said the Cats and Stormers are in the same boat. “They are also a dangerous team, but they also had their ups and downs. They have a lot of good players, but sometimes things just don’t happen for them.
“If they can get their game together, they are very dangerous. They played well at times, but were just unlucky to lose a few games.”
The captain said Saturday has special meaning, as it will be Breyton Paulse’s last game at his beloved Newlands.
“Not only do we want to finish with a special performance, but it will also be Breyton’s last game at Newlands in the Stormers colours. Maybe he will come back to play here for the Boks, but one never knows …
“We don’t want to attach too much emotion to it, but at this stage it is his last game at Newlands and we wan to make it a great occasion for him.”
Barry said he was full of confidence that the Stormers will win this one, but said they would have to make least mistakes and use their try-scoring opportunities.
Teams for Newlands:
Investec Stormers: 15 Breyton Paulse, 14 Tonderai Chavhanga, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 De Wet Barry (captain), 11 Gus Theron, 10 Gaffie du Toit, 9 Bolla Conradie, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Gerrie Britz, 4 Andries Bekker, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 Hanyani Shimange, 1 Eddie Andrews.
Replacements: 16 Lukas van Biljon, 17 Pat Barnard, 18 Rob Linde, 19 David Hendriks, 20 Neil de Kock, 21 Marius Joubert, 22 Tiger Mangweni.
Cats: 15 Andre Pretorius, 14 Conrad Jantjes, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wayne Julies, 11 Chumani Booi, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Juan Smith, 7 Wikus Van Heerden (captain), 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Trevor Hall, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Lawrence Sephaka.
Replacements: 16 James Van Der Walt, 17 Marius Hurter, 18 Windpomp van Rooyen, 19 Hendro Scholtz, 20 Paul Delport, 21 Barry Goodes, 22 Dewey Swartbooi.
Kick-off: 17:00.
Referee: Marius Jonker.
