The Stormers have been in good form in the URC to date, picking up three comfortable wins so far.
Stormers attack coach Dawie Snyman said the team still have plenty to show, despite a great start to the United Rugby Championship (URC) that sees them topping the log after three rounds.
The Stormers picked up comfortable home wins over Leinster and Ospreys, before starting their three-match overseas tour with an impressive 34-0 win over Scarlets over the past weekend.
They now head into their next two tour games, against Zebre in Parma and Benetton in Treviso, looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season.
This season so far has been a turnaround from previous Stormers campaigns, as they usually start slowly, but Snyman says they still have plenty to work on.
“Previously we have had poor starts in the URC and that obviously puts a bit of pressure on you to perform. So it is nice to have the momentum and energy from our performances so far,” explained Snyman.
“We still have a lot left in the tank and we are motivated to keep growing. You can feel the mood in the team. We are happy with the wins, but we aren’t patting ourselves on the back and thinking we have arrived now.
“The boys are still putting in a lot of hard work and there are still (a number of) areas of our game that we want to improve on.”
Slow starts
In all three wins so far the Stormers have started slowly, before kicking into high gear in the second half to blow Leinster, Ospreys and Scarlets away with clinical second 40-minute showings, which Snyman explains is due to a slight change in their game plan.
“Some of it has been a bit more tactical, and then obviously the forwards are doing a good job to really take the opposition’s legs. We also then have a great bench coming on that makes a difference and actually picks up the pace of the game,” said Snyman.
“Also we are playing quality sides. So you aren’t always going to start well and sometimes you are going to have to grind it out and get a foot into the game before seeing where the opportunities are.”
Looking ahead to Zebre, the Stormers are aware of the dangers posed by the Italian side, who despite finishing 15th on the log last season, have started the current campaign well with home wins over Edinburgh and the Lions, but head into the match off a heavy loss against Ospreys in Wales.
“I think Zebre made about 12 changes for that Ospreys game. So it was almost a completely different team (from what played in the first two matches),” noted Snyman.
“The Italian teams at home are always a great challenge. They are very passionate and physical teams, and they will want to keep the momentum going from those first two (home) games. So it is a big challenge for us but we are looking forward to it.”
