Stormers have Scots to beat
THE Stormers played their last home match in the United Rugby Championship (URC) in December and they’ll be happy to return to their favourable hunting ground as they look to get their campaign back under way.
The inaugural URC champions face Edinburgh in Cape Town on Saturday (kick-off 5.15pm), and after dropping out of the top 8 spots in the competition, they start the steep hill of getting back among the Champions Cup places.
After shaking off the URC loss against the Bulls in an away friendly against Northampton Saints a few weekends ago, Stormers coach John Dobson can be upbeat about his team’s chances ahead of the encounter against the Scottish club.
Edinburgh currently occupies the fourth spot on the official points table, but it’s so congested at the top that the Cape side could jump ahead of them if they pick up a bonus point win and prevent their visitors from getting any log points from the clash.
The Mother City should present the former champions with the chance to get their attack going, just as they did at Franklin’s Gardens, where they scored some amazing tries against the Saints. The start against the Bulls was everything Dobson didn’t want, and they’ll have the chance to rectify that poor start in this URC game.
Then, their discipline will ultimately hold the key. While the Stormers fought bravely in Pretoria, poor discipline led them astray and they lost 40-22 at Loftus.
Defensively, they’ll also have to tread lightly against the elusive runners of Edinburgh. Another loss will make the mountain even steeper to climb if they want to reach the playoffs.
It can also rob them of the winning momentum they will need for their April Champions Cup play-off clash against defending winners La Rochelle.
In Durban, Sharks supporters will hope the good news of Bok signings in their time off will spur the team to move from the foot of the URC table when they take on Ulster on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).
They have won only one game in the competition, and things have gone from bad to worse.
It’s tough to pinpoint exactly where John Plumtree;s men have lost the plot, especially looking at their current roster of players. They are building with next season in mind, but they’ll have to find ways to change things on the field from Saturday.
Ulster is among the top five teams currently, and any points on their tour to South Africa will be worth gold to them – even if it comes with a loss. But they’ll be there to claim the scalp of the Sharks first, before moving on to the Stormers in Cape Town.
They’ll most likely have Springbok and former Stormers player Steven Kitshoff among their players, and he will be licking his lips to test himself against his compatriots.
Up first will be the Durban side’s scrum and it will come under severe pressure on Saturday afternoon, but if they can subdue the likes of Kitshoff if he is there, the battle will almost be half-won.
In front of their Durban crowd, the Sharks will also have to perform. Their poor run of form in the URC is not going down well with their supporters.
The next two clashes at home – they are also facing Edinburgh – will be the build-up to their Challenge Cup knockout against Zebre in the Shark Tank in April, so if they cannot pick themselves up from the bottom of the URC table, it’s difficult to see them getting any winning momentum for the play-off game.*