Where to now for bumbling Stormers?

The Stormers are facing their first dip in form of the current season and will now have to work out their issues over a three week break to rediscover their touch ahead of the business end of the United Rugby Championship (URC) and Champions Cup.

The Cape side are next in action at the end of the month, when they take on the Lions at Ellis Park in what could be a massive encounter for both teams in terms of achieving their goals set out for the season.

If the Lions go down to the Sharks a week earlier, they will be an incredibly desperate team, and a third straight URC defeat for the Stormers would put their hopes of securing a home URC semifinal and final, should they get there, in major jeopardy.

Thanks to their stunning start to the season, which saw them win 10 straight matches, eight in the URC and two in the Champions Cup, the Stormers entered the New Year unbeaten.

But a difficult January period has seen them lose three out of their last four games, which threatens to undo all the brilliant work done over the first four months.

Their huge Champions Cup loss against Harlequins, which was their first of the season, proved costly as despite winning three of their four pool matches, they still finished third and missed out on a home playoff, which means they travel to France to face Toulon in their last 16 clash in April.

URC slide

And after sitting top of the URC at the start of January, back-to-back derby defeats against the Sharks has seen them slip to third on the log, although they do have a game in hand over Leinster, on 40 points, and Glasgow Warriors (44), above them.

But they are level on 36 points with Ulster, who have played the same number of games, in fourth, and Cardiff in fifth, while sixth placed Munster are just a point behind, so any slip ups from here on out could drop them out of the top four, which is needed for a home playoff.

After playing the Lions in Johannesburg, and the Bulls at Loftus, the Stormers enjoy a four game home run against overseas opposition, taking on Dragons, Edinburgh, Connacht and Glasgow Warriors in Cape Town, and that could be a season defining group of games that they may need to win.

They then close out the URC pool stage with away matches against Ulster and Cardiff, and both of them might still be challenging them for a home playoff at that stage.

Whatever happens, the Stormers need to take the lessons from a difficult January and sort out their issues, if they are to make a success of their season.