The Stormers will be eager to keep their unbeaten run going when they welcome the Lions to Cape Town for their URC clash.
Stormers director of rugby John Dobson has challenged his charges to raise their game for their United Rugby Championship (URC) derby against the Lions at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The Stormers have been in terrific form this season, have won all eight of their games to date, and head into the match off a convincing 42-21 Champions Cup win over La Rochelle in Gqeberha last weekend.
But despite the solid result, it was against an understrength French side, who put up a good fight, keeping the Stormers largely in check during the first 50 minutes, before the Cape side pulled away.
Improved performance
Dobson believes a similar performance against the Lions won’t be enough, and that they could suffer their first defeat of the season if they don’t put in an improved performance.
“We know this performance (against La Rochelle) won’t beat a fired-up Lions team in Cape Town, let alone a Bulls side (in January),” admitted Dobson.
“As coaches, we had a good look at the Lions already and what we can expect. We know Henco (van Wyk) gets the most contact metres, Quan Horn makes line breaks, and we know how effective they can be at the breakdown and in winning turnovers.
“We’ve played this Lions team a couple of times before and know how dangerous they can be, especially at altitude when things get loose. They made their intentions clear by resting key players (in the Challenge Cup), showing that they want to target this game.
“We’ve done the same in previous seasons. They are coming, and suddenly the game feels a little more intense. But we won’t be lacking any intensity. They will get lots of things from us, but that is where we will challenge the Lions.”
Full strength
Against La Rochelle the Stormers were back to their full-strength team, with Springbok stars Sacha-Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cobus Reinach running the show, and they could be bolstered even further by Damian Willemse’s expected return after a niggle kept him out last week.
The Stormers, currently top of the URC log after six straight wins, are the only unbeaten team left in the competition and will be eager to extend that winning run and secure their place at the top of the table going into the new year.
They also top their Champions Cup group, thanks to two wins over Aviron Bayonnais in France, and this past weekend’s triumph in Gqeberha.
So the Stormers will be eager to continue marching on and take an unblemished record into 2026, as they prepare to they face a tough run in January, hosting the Bulls in the URC in Cape Town at the start of the month before playing their final two Champions Cup pool games.
