Harlequins preparing for a touch of Springbok glamour

They could not get a quorum of players for a major cross-hemisphere fund-raising match in London – the humiliating collapse of the International Rugby Board's pet North-South Challenge project will be at the top of the agenda when the governing body meets in Dublin next month – but when it comes to pulling together 30-odd Super 12 players from South Africa for a Friday night run-around in the capital, nothing could be easier. On 7 February, the Stoop Memorial Ground will host a match between the Cape Town-based Stormers and the Durban-based Sharks.

The two teams were the best South African performers in last summer's Super 12, and although that is not saying much – the Stormers finished seventh, the Sharks 10th – they represent the glamour-puss face of Springbok rugby and have large followings among the expat community. Harlequins, who reside at The Stoop, can expect another capacity gate when they take on the Sharks on 4 February; the Stormers are also hoping to play a Premiership side in the run-up to the main event against their provincial rivals.

"We see this as a great opportunity to push the Stormers brand into the northern hemisphere," Rob Wagner, the Stormers chief executive, said. According to rugby's more visionary strategists, this is the shape of things to come. The Super 12 tournament will be a decade old in 2005, and its broadcasting deal expires then. Many in South Africa believe their provincial teams would be better served by closer links with Europe – a shift of focus that would plunge Australian and New Zealand sides back into an Antipodean straitjacket.

Recent developments suggest Springbok eyes are turning in this direction. Four Currie Cup outfits – Western Province, Eastern Province, Free State and the Blue Bulls – have signed up for an eight-team tournament in Wales next month and there has been much talk of the South African national side participating alongside England and Australia in an annual London-based Tri-Nations tournament. That last idea has caused consternation among countries such as Argentina and Samoa, who fear their ambitions are being undermined by the approach of the most powerful unions.

Sale, who travel to Glasgow for a must-win Heineken Cup match tomorrow, will field their Wallaby signing, Graeme Bond, for the first time. Bond, arguably the outstanding back during last year's Lions tour, plays at centre – an addition that should go some way towards compensating for the absence of the England outside-half Charlie Hodgson, who is still struggling for fitness.

Gloucester, meanwhile, will rest their entire first-choice front row of Trevor Woodman, Olivier Azam and Phil Vickery against Viadana in Italy tomorrow.