Leighton Koopman
Five points thanks to five tries saw the Stormers claim the fifth spot on the overall United Rugby Championship (URC) log after a clinical win over Leinster at the weekend.
Although the inaugural champions are happy they got their campaign back on track with their 42-12 win, their attention will immediately shift to two important overseas clashes during a mini-tour of Wales and Ireland.
The bonus-point win against Leinster will give them plenty of confidence before playing the Dragons and Connacht away from home, but head coach John Dobson also knows they can’t afford any more slip-ups in their quest to reach the play-offs.
The Stormers can still qualify for a home knockout match, but that is out of their hands as they need a couple of favours from other sides to get into the top four.
But a place among the top eight in the URC and a spot in next season’s Champions Cup is still in their hands. The pressure is now on them to go and win the two overseas matches and pull the teeth of the Lions in the final round robin game of the tournament.
The Stormers will have a week off in preparation for their next clash against the Dragons at Rodney Parade after running in five tries to beat their Irish visitors on Saturday.
“The team responded, but you could still see we lacked a bit of confidence (after last week’s loss),” Dobson said about their performance against Leinster.
“The last thing as a coach that you want to tell the players is that we can’t afford to lose or we will miss out on the Champions Cup. But it was the truth, we just didn’t go on about it too much.
“That pressure was there, but it was a compelling performance and I have to give credit to the players. There were some signs of last weekend where we gave away penalties or were too lateral on the attack. We again showed flashes of playing Stormers rugby, but we were not too fluid like back in the day.
“There were glimpses of it against Leinster again, and I felt like we had our pomp back. We won’t change how we play.”
And 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 is how we stand after 1️⃣5️⃣ rounds...
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🔥 Warrick Gelant, STOP THAT!
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An outrageous dummy from the DHL @THESTORMERS flyer 😮💨#BKTURC | #URC | #RaceToTheEight | #STOvLEI pic.twitter.com/5mGVjOiODd
Bringing back the big carriers worked for the Stormers as guys like captain Salmaan Moerat, Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos, Joseph Dweba and Ruben van Heerden took the ball into contact excellently.
They, along with the rest of the forwards, were also solid on defence and kept the Irish side scoreless for about 50 minutes of the clash before they could hit back with two quickfire tries.
Every bit of momentum started with the first scrum of the match where the home side’s pack won a penalty after dominating. They continued to overpower their opponents in the scrum throughout the match.
The confidence they gain will be vital ahead of the trip to Wales and Ireland where two tricky clashes could end up determining where the Stormers finish on the log.