Stormers are stronger ahead of Dragons URC duel

The Stormers bounced back from a run of three straight defeats with a big win over the Bulls at Loftus last weekend, which sees them well placed heading into their United Rugby Championship clash against the Dragons at the Cape Town Stadium on Sunday.

It was an important result for the Stormers, after their brilliant eight game winning start to the season came to a shuddering end with back-to-back derby defeats to the Sharks, followed by a loss against the Lions on the Highveld, which saw them slip from the top of the log down to fifth.

But their bonus point win over the Bulls has seen them bounce back superbly, with them now second, however, they are level on points with Ulster and Leinster below them, while Cardiff are one point back and Munster two, making for an extremely tight bunch at the top of the log.

Stormers defence coach Norman Laker explained that it had been a tough couple of months for the team, but that had helped them become stronger heading into the competitions business end.

“You must be naive as players and coaches to think you’re going to go through a URC season without losing a match. I don’t think there’s a team that’s done it. The three losses weren’t good enough, but we learned from them and came back much stronger,” said Laker.

“It just shows again you can’t write anyone off. It’s a tough competition and every team has quality players. If we follow our plans and structures, we can beat any team on the day, we just have to make sure we play to the best of our ability and don’t do silly things.”

Big win

The Dragons match is now a perfect chance for the Stormers to get a big bonus point win over a team near the bottom of the log, to try and put some daylight between them and the chasing pack, while they will also want to cut the deficit to Glasgow Warriors on top of the log.

The Bulls win was thus a big confidence booster for them, while they also celebrated the return of some key senior players, like Ruhan Nel and Deon Fourie from injury, Springbok Damian Willemse from national team resting protocols, and Neethling Fouche who missed the Lions game.

“It was massive (having the senior guys back), and it was great to be back after a couple of weeks off (resting),” said Willemse about his and the other senior players return.

“Coming back into the team, especially with the calmness that Deon brings into the team, the physicality aspect and experience (is great). Neethling is also vital for us when it comes to the scrum and his leadership as well.

“So it was obviously a boost for the team, and I think everything that we have learnt from our three losses we put into training and it was really great to see how the team reacted. The character that we showed to go up to Loftus and put in that performance was big.”