The level of desperation that Cardiff will take into their final Vodacom URC league game was immediately evident after their loss to Glasgow last week but DHL Stormers hooker Andre-Hugo Venter laughs off any notion his team will head into Friday’s game feeling any less desperate.
It is easy to understand why there might be an assumption that the home team will be more desperate in their league finale. They are in grave danger of dropping out of the top eight (they are currently seventh) if they lose while the Stormers will have a home quarterfinal regardless of what happens at Cardiff Arms Park.
Their top four finish was booked when they took three points from their draw against Ulster last week and it will take a freaky set of events for the Stormers to finish lower than third.
CARDIFF HAVE GOOD RECORD AT HOME
The Cardiff determination was telegraphed immediately after their 40-17 defeat to Glasgow last Friday night by the words of their fullback Jacob Beetham.
“We’ve got our last regular-season game against the Stormers, which we can hopefully fly into and hopefully confirm our place in that top eight,” said Beetham.
“I think it will give us loads of confidence, the fact that we’ve only lost one game this year at home. We’re going to do everything to fly into it and hopefully get the result. The main thing is getting that top eight this season.”
HUNGRY FOR CAPE TOWN PLAYOFF GAMES PLAYOFF GAMES
Venter says the Stormers’ quest to finish in the top two, which would mean they play at home in a semifinal should they get there, would make them as desperate and determined as Cardiff will be.
“We felt like it was a loss in our last game (against Ulster) so our level of desperation right up there with theirs,” said Venter.
“We are in the playoffs but we want to play at home after the quarterfinals if we get through that game so we desperately do need to win against Cardiff. It will improve our chances of playing at home after the quarterfinals and we will be going all out to achieve that. They won’t be more desperate than us. We have a lot to play for.”
Indeed, if the Stormers do lose to Cardiff they are likely to be pipped into second place by Leinster, who are just one point behind them in third and should be expected to comfortably beat another Welsh team, the Ospreys, in their final game. That will set up the possibility of them having to travel to Glasgow or Dublin for their semifinal and there is good reason for them not to want that outcome.
NEED BETTER DECISIONS
Venter said that the review of the Ulster game, which was drawn 38-all at the Kingspan Stadium, had highlighted some areas where there could be better decision making - and that included what they learned from the experience of going through a whole game without having a single put in at a scrum.
“I had a conversation with (scrum coach) Brok Harris afterwards and we both agreed we had never seen a match where there was a single feed for one team’s scrum,” said the son of former Bok flanker Andre Venter.
“It was really weird watching the game again and it did show us something. There were a few times that we had advantage after a knock (by Ulster). So maybe our decision making needs to be better.
"We should opt for the scrum rather than go for our expansive rugby. It is up to us as players to make the right decisions. The coaches put us in certain scenarios then let us make the decisions.”
Venter gave credit to his fellow forwards for the lineout efficiency of last week’s game and said that Friday night’s match in Cardiff will see the Stormers continuing with their policy of trying to dominate the opposition at forward even though Ulster fronted them quite well in aspects of forward play.
“We go into every game trying to impose pack as much as possible. Ulster did well to fight back at us, but we won’t go away from what we identify as our culture so every game we go in, no matter who we are playing against, looking to impose ourselves much as possible.”
CUTTING MISTAKES WILL LIMIT MOMENTUM SWINGS
Venter said the key to an improved performance apart from the above-mentioned decision making would be for the Stormers to limit mistakes. The Ulster game was one that featured several momentum swings, with the Stormers scoring 17 unanswered points at a stage of the first half only for Ulster to then respond with a 19-point scoring spree before following up with a 12-point burst later on to effectively put the win beyond the Cape team.
“We have had a chat about those momentum swings and (the ones against us) all came from our mistakes. There was that quick tap that Ulster took where they almost ran through to score a try from near our own line. That turned into a 14-point swing.
"If you take away those mistakes we should have been okay. If we don’t offer the opportunity for momentum swings in favour of the opposing teams we should be well off,” said Venter.
“It is all about focusing on better decision making and better discipline and not playing against ourselves in some scenarios. We’ve watched a replay where we saw there was also a quick tap by them from a scrum (free kick) earlier in the game so it was obviously a plan from them.
"They were trying to catch us off guard. We need to understand what the opposition see and identify what we did wrong and then try and exploit that. We need to find our weaknesses before the other team does.”