Edinburgh will come to Cape Town this weekend to face a DHL Stormers team that is supremely motivated to trigger the momentum that will see them trade their current lowly ninth position on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log with a top four place.
The Stormers didn’t even get a bonus point out of their recent loss to the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria but coach John Dobson is aware that the Loftus defeat was an aberration in what has otherwise been a good period for his team. They are still paying for their four losses on their November tour of the northern hemisphere, but since the loss to Leicester Tigers in England at the beginning of December, the defeat to the Bulls has been their only blemish.
Significantly, the Stormers also haven’t played at the DHL Stadium since they beat Sale Sharks there in early January, and that is adding to the excitement ahead of this week’s clash with a team that is coached by Dobson’s old adversary from the Hollywoodbets Sharks, Sean Everitt. As it happens, Edinburgh are fourth, but as Dobson noted, just four points ahead of his team.
“The result at Loftus put us under a bit of pressure in terms of the log, but we have been here twice before and we are here again,” said the Stormers coach.
“Had we been better on our tour in November, it would have given us a bit more comfort. We were fairy beaten at Loftus, but we are getting towards the sharp end where the season gets defined, and as you can see, the log is very congested. With the exception of the Bulls, every one of the teams ahead of us on the log still have to come to South Africa. It’s a tough place to come at this time of the year.
