Stormers turn focus to URC after Champions Cup progress

After successfully securing their place in the Champions Cup play-offs, the Stormers now turn their focus to an exciting local derby double header in the United Rugby Championship (URC) as they take on the Sharks home and away over the next two weeks.

A hard-fought win over Leicester Tigers in Cape Town over the past weekend saw the Stormers bounce back positively from their first loss of the season, a week previously against Harlequins in London.

Their three wins earned them third place in their pool, behind Leinster up top and Harlequins, which sees them have to travel to France for their last 16 game against Toulon in April.

But with that match far off, all of their focus now returns to the URC, where they currently sit top of the log, having won all eight of their games so far as the only unbeaten team remaining in the competition.

They now face a stiff task of keeping that brilliant record intact against a star studded Sharks team, who despite their poor form this season, will have taken confidence from their big Champions Cup win over Clermont at the weekend.

Both the Stormers and the Sharks were missing a number of star players last week and will likely be welcoming them back for the big derby at Cape Town Stadium.

Returning players

For the Stormers, a slew of players could return, including current Springboks Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach and Salmaan Moerat, former Bok Warrick Gelant and senior players Ruhan Nel, Adré Smith, Sazi Sandi and Jurie Matthee.

Director of rugby John Dobson said they were happy to have most of their squad now available and that they were targeting keeping their unbeaten run intact over the next two weeks.

“We’ve got two massive local derbies coming up. We can see what the Sharks roster is going to look like next week. It’s going to be like the Bulls game again,” said Dobson.

“We’ve just got to get through these next two weeks, then we’ve got a nice two weeks (off), then a week’s prep before the Lions. We want to keep that (unbeaten) record in the URC.”

World-class squad

Speaking about their progress in the Champions Cup, Dobson believed the Stormers had now built a squad capable of challenging at the highest level and he said they were confident of going even further, despite gearing up for a knockout clash away from home.

“We really think we’ve got a squad now that can compete properly in Europe. It’s always been our dream and that’s what Project 2029 is all about,” explained Dobson.

“We think we’re in a position to go deeper that we’ve ever gone in this competition. Get the two (Sharks games) out of the way, then Europe becomes very important to us.”