Stormers need to break Glasgow losing streak to progress to URC semifinals

The Stormers will need to break a four-game losing streak against Scottish defending champions Glasgow Warriors if they are to progress to the United Rugby Championship (URC) semifinals.

They take on the hosts in their quarterfinal match-up at the Scotstoun Stadium on Friday night, looking to get one over a side that has become a bit of a bogey team for them over the past few years.

After winning the first ever encounter between the two, a 32-7 triumph at the Cape Town Stadium back in 2022, they have never managed to taste success again over the following three seasons.

Three of those were away losses in Scotland, with Glasgow claiming 24-17 and 20-9 pool wins in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons respectively, while in last season’s quarterfinals the hosts won 27-10.

This season the Stormers were finally able to host Glasgow again, but were again beaten, this time 28-17 at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch.

To make it to the next round the Stormers now have to do what they have never done, win in Glasgow, and key to that will be playing to their strengths, which they have been doing over the past few games, according to forwards coach Rito Hlungwani.

Small margins

“I usually get on these interviews and talk about learning from mistakes but we have looked at our previous games against Glasgow as a collective and what we have got from that is that there hasn’t been that much to choose between the teams,” explained Hlungwani.

“The scores have never been big and the last time we lost to them we missed four kicks at poles. I would not say that watching those games and noting how competitive they were has given us more motivation but it does give us confidence that we can do it if we are at the top of our game.

“Over the past few games, we felt like we played like we want to play and have set out to play. We have implemented what we call the Stormers template. We want to get better at that and be ready for what Glasgow bring to the table.”

Hlungwani admitted that turning over the defending champs on their home patch would be a tough task, as they are a strond side overall, with plenty of threats across the park.

“They are a very balanced side. They compete in the scrum, they’ve got a strong maul, probably one of the best mauls in the URC. They’ve got big backline players who are strike runners, and guys who run really hard,” said Hlungwani.

If the Stormers manage to make it through to the next round it would likely set them up with a huge semifinal against favourites Leinster in Dublin.