A game between the Stormers and Sharks - and between Western Province and the Natal Sharks for that matter - is always being hyped up in the media as war in the week preceding the game.

Surprisingly, this week there have been no accusations of thuggery from the Cape and no counter accusations of softies and moaners from Durban. Instead, the focus was very much on injuries and team selections before Friday's game at the Absa Stadium in Durban.

That, Stormers captain Corne Krige says, is probably because it is only the start of the season. "I think there's not much to refer to to hype this game up, but you can always start it now!" he said with a broad smile on Wednesday.

"I think it's an awesome opportunity to make our mark against a team that has always done well in the Super 12. What better way to do it than against the team that was in the final last year," he continued on a more serious note.

"The amazing thing is that it never happened before that the teams that played the Currie Cup final the previous year meet straight away in the Super 12 the following season. There's going to be a lot of feeling, but it's going to be good fun."

The teams met in the Currie Cup final last year and WP retained the Cup with a solid display in the second half. The Province tight-five stood up to the much-vaunted Natal Sharks and carried their team to a second consecutive title.

That win doesn't necessarily give the Stormers a psychological edge over the Sharks, Krige admitted. "They say you're only as good as your last game. Our tight-five really performed well in that Currie Cup final and they laid the platform for us to win the Currie Cup.

"They also have Mark Andrews back that makes a huge difference to their tight-five. So it will be another test for us. You can only say you have one over your opponents if you're consistently better than them, if you dominate them in a few games.

"I don't think we can say at this stage we are one up on them, but we'd like to prove it on the weekend. Hopefully our tight-five will be up for the challenge."

The tough-as-teak flanker expects another highly physical game. "They are always physical and aggressive. However, I think it will be a clean game with none of the niggle and unnecessary things that characterised some of our previous games."

Krige is in his fifth season of Super 12 and says it is a big bonus that they have in Gert Smal the same coach that led them to the Currie Cup final last year. He says the team is much better prepared than previous years, when they had different coaches for the two competitions.

"It's been better because there hasn't been a radical change in what we've been doing at WP and what we're doing now. Not every single move is different. I am just really excited that we have the same coach now that we had for the Currie Cup.

"It's the first time in three or four years and it's really a positive way to go forward to what we want, to continuity and stability. That's what we've got now on the coaching side.

"Unfortunately injuries are out of our hands and that has caused a bit of an upset. But like Gert said, you've got to play with what you have and you've got no excuses.

"We believe we have a certain amount of depth here that we can play with and the youngsters that are coming through are showing us a lot at the moment. But the tournament is a different story altogether and that's where you get really tested. That's what we're looking forward to."