The Stormers are in for a tough first game of the URC season against a Leinster side with no weaknesses, according to assistant coach Dawie Snyman.
Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman says the team are readying themselves for an intense battle against a Leinster side which has no weaknesses, in their United Rugby Championship (URC) opener at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday night.
It is a huge test first up for the Stormers against last season’s champions, who will be eager to get their title defence off to a perfect start in South Africa, especially with a trip up to the Highveld to face the Bulls next weekend still to come.
Despite once again not sending a full strength squad to SA, Leinster have been bolstered by the return of some star players from injury, while Snyman claims that no matter who turns out for them, it will be a tough game, especially due to the influence of former Bok coach Jacques Nienaber.
“We know Leinster are a well-oiled machine. They’ve got the ability to put a lot of phases together, they’ve got a great attacking system,” explained Snyman.
“Obviously with Jacques there now, they are increasing their defensive line speed and putting you under pressure in a lot of areas and also getting the balance right between not only attacking, but kicking well.
“There are no weaknesses in that team, so for us all areas need to be firing for us to get a good result. Leinster are a great club.
“It doesn’t matter who’s got the jersey on, they know their systems really well from a young age, so we’re really expecting a tough contest. It’s nice to start like that, because we want to test ourselves.”
With it being the first game of the season for both teams, Snyman admits it could become a bit of a scrappy encounter, with both sides expected to be a little rusty.
First game rust
“For both teams it will be the first game out so there will be rust and neither of us will hit full flow,” said Snyman.
“We’ve got to get back into the full contact scenarios, but we are expecting a really tough contest and it is nice to start out against a team like Leinster. But we are under no illusions about the challenge that awaits us.”
Although the Stormers are missing their Bok players on national duty, they have been slightly boosted by the imminent arrival of three of the Griquas’ Currie Cup winning stars.
Dylan Maart, Gurshwin Wehr and Caleb Abrahams will be training with the squad as part of an agreement between the teams, to get a feel of a URC setup, but they are unavailable for selection as they haven’t signed loan deals yet.
“Hopefully they make it here. I’m not sure where they are with the celebrations, but it’s great. Well done to Griquas, they were consistent over the whole season, in fact over the last two or three seasons,” said Snyman.
“For those players to get a shot at the URC is amazing. Once again, congratulations to everyone who really worked hard behind the scenes and hopefully we can reward some of their players who have put up their hands and really performed well.”
