URC Team Preview: Stormers looking to consolidate

Although they didn’t manage to hold onto the trophy they’d won in the first season of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, the DHL Stormers would have happily signed on the dotted line had they been offered another appearance in a final at the start of their last campaign.

John Dobson’s team went out to prove that their win in the inaugural season was no flash in the pan, and they did that, finishing third on the overall log, only just behind the team they beat in the 2021/2022 semifinal, Ulster.

There’s a keen rivalry developing between the Stormers and some of the Irish teams, and one of those is Ulster.

Munster are another, and it was them that rained on the Stormers parade when they hosted their second consecutive final at DHL Stadium.

It was also Munster who brought a long Stormers unbeaten home run to a halt in a crucial league game towards the end of the regular season, thus condemning the Stormers to a third-place finish on the log when second appeared theirs for the taking.

Munster were also in a sense the Stormers’ friend, however, in the sense that it was by producing a shock result away against Leinster in the semifinal that Munster set up the decider for Cape Town.

In retrospect, coach Dobson might feel his side would have been better off going to their anticipated decider against Leinster in Dublin, as the expectation would have been lower and the Stormers would have had less to lose.

NEW DHL STADIUM SURFACE WILL PROMOTE ENTERTAINING RUGBY

It is never nice to lose a home final, but in the Stormers’ defence they were playing on a field that by the end of last season had deteriorated to the point that it is understood that the URC organisers did give some serious thought to shifting the venue, perhaps to Gqeberha, for the decider.

With rain having fallen in the buildup week, a field that hadn’t been helped by the stadium hosting an event which focused on big lorries driving across the turf was slippery underfoot and left the Stormers unable to get a foothold with their feared scrumming and it also compromised their suffocating press defensive system.

Fortunately, though there won’t be a repeat in the 2023/24 season, as the field has been relaid to a hybrid synthetic and grass surface that will suit the Stormers’ strength, which is their running game built around strong counter-attacking and transitioning defence into attack.

If fans thought they’d been royally entertained over the past two years, that might go up a level in the coming months.

The Stormers’ first home game will be against Scarlets at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch where after they go on a four-match overseas tour, but they will be looking forward to getting onto their home patch at the DHL Stadium towards the end of November.

With a tough but appetising home clash with champions LaRochelle set for mid-December in the Heineken Champions Cup, and two plum derby matches against the Vodacom Bulls and Hollywoodbets Sharks set for the festive week, plus another Champions Cup game against Leicester Tigers in January, Cape Town rugby fans have a busy and enthralling holiday month in store for them.

MOERAT WILL BE A POPULAR AND STRONG CAPTAIN

Talking of the festive season and the Champions Cup, it was just before the last festive season in a European tie with London Irish that Salmaan Moerat sustained the injury that ruled him out for the rest of that season.

The Springbok lock is back now though and set to lead the Stormers in Johannesburg this weekend as the Cape franchise gets ready for life without Steven Kitshoff.

We know there will be plenty of 🔵⚪️ in the stands at Emirates Airline Park this weekend for our @Vodacom #URC opener against @LionsRugbyCo.

🎟: https://t.co/3bFMp3i9w4#iamastormer #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/YtOGLbMkec

— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) October 18, 2023

Their popular and highly regarded former skipper has headed to Ulster, and while it is hoped he will return in a season or two to finish off his career in the Cape, for now he will be playing for the opposition and the Stormers will have to play without him.

When it comes to the captaincy, Moerat, who is no stranger to the leadership and has led South Africa at age-group level, will prove a strong and popular choice, and of course he will have experienced men helping him out, particularly once the Boks have returned from overseas.

Lizo Gqoboko (formerly Vodacom Bulls) and Sti Sithole (formerly Lions but a man who started out at Western Province) have been brought in to fill the hole left by Kitshoff in the front-row, but that will be hard to do.

WP PIPELINE A BIG STRENGTH FOR THE STORMERS

What the Stormers do have though is a productive pipeline being developed between the rich talent being produced in the region and you never know who might emerge from the shadows become a star.

While the Stormers have done some good off-season business, spearheaded by Warrick Gelant’s return to the Cape, it is the players coming through from age-group level (Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu) and maturing quickly under Dobson’s coaching (Ben-Jason Dixon is a good example) that are building the platform for future success.

WP under-21 won the national competition a few weeks ago, and the Stormers were able to field two strong teams in a pre-season double header involving the Sharks and SWD Eagles in George.

That with the Stormers Springboks away at the World Cup, where they’ve produced some stellar performances, so Dobson has certainly succeeded in his mission to create depth, with the 2022/23 Currie Cup season furthering that mission even though WP didn’t make the semifinals, and will be looking to continue it as he builds towards a strong future challenge in the Champions Cup.

ORIE’S DEPARTURE OFF-SET BY ESTABLISHMENT OF SECOND ROW DEPTH

Kitshoff wasn’t the only Bok forward to leave the Stormers in the offseason, with lock Marvin Orie, also currently at the World Cup, deciding to continue his career in France.

The arrival of the talented and physical Hendre Stessen will though off-set that loss, as will Moerat’s return to fitness.

Adre Smith is also back playing again after missing most of last season through injury, while Ruben van Heerden was an excellent acquisition during the course of the last campaign.

BJ Dixon, like Stassen, is equally at home at lock and blindside flank.

Talking of acquisitions, the most significant happening was the securing of an attractive equity deal with a local consortium known as Red Disa Investments.

FINANCIAL WORRIES CONSIGNED TO HISTORY

It’s a lucrative one too, so the Stormers’ financial worries have been consigned to history and in time there could be an influx of quality players to add to the talent that is already there that should make the Stormers consistent contenders not only for the URC title but also the Champions Cup.

This may be a season of consolidation for the Stormers rather than them shooting out the lights, but then we said that last season and they came within a few minutes of retaining the URC trophy.

One unquantifiable benefit for the Stormers this year should be the experience picked up playing in the World Cup by the likes of Manie Libbok and Damian Willemse, and for that matter Deon Fourie.

The first two have grown immensely as international players and should join Fourie and Frans Malherbe in rubbing off their experience on their teammates when they return.

The Stormers, like the other South African teams, go on tour early, so they will be looking to get off to a winning start in the two games being played on South African soil before departure - the Lions in Johannesburg at the weekend and the Scarlets the week after that.

Their tour includes tough games against URC contenders Glasgow Warriors and the newly crowned champions Munster.

PLAYERS IN:

Warrick Gelant (Racing 92)

Sti Sithole (Emirates Lions)

Lizo Gqoboko (Vodacom Bulls)

Ben Loader (London Irish)

Hendre Stassen (unattached)

Courtnall Skosan (Northampton)

PLAYERS OUT:

Steven Kitshoff (Ulster)

Marvin Orie (Perpignan)

Ernst van Rhyn (Sale)

Kade Wolhuter (Emirates Lions on loan)