The effects of altitude have often been a talking point ahead of a DHL Stormers visit to Pretoria, but flanker Junior Pokomela doesn’t believe anything that the climate or the weather gods throws at his team this weekend will compare to what they experienced last time out.
With a lot of rain in Gauteng and more rain predicted for the day of the Loftus Vodacom United Rugby Championship north/south derby between the Stormers and the Vodacom Bulls, it might be that altitude is further reduced as a factor. But Pokomela chortles at any thought that the potential debilitating impacts of the rarefied atmosphere can compare to what the Stormers experienced in Durban a fortnight ago.
Head coach John Dobson said in conversation the week after the HollywoodBets Kings Park clash that the 46-19 triumph was one of the bravest performances he’d seen from a Stormers team. Not because of what they had to face in the form of the Cell C Sharks players on the field, but because of the discomfort levels encountered in the 2pm kick-off on a sweltering, humid afternoon in KZN’s subtropical climate.
Dobson said the Stormers, although they outplayed the Sharks, had to really hang in there later in the game. It was the same for the Sharks, of course, but they ought to at least be more accustomed to the humidity as they train in it all the time.
“I’m not going to lie to you, we had a great win in Durban, but that humidity was horrible,” said Pokomela.
“It really was awful and it is 100 per cent correct to say it took a lot for us to put in the performance that we did in those conditions. I’d much rather play at altitude, even on a hot dry day, than in the Durban humidity.”
Pokomela might find the altitude more familiar to him after his years with the Toyota Cheetahs, where he was based in Bloemfontein, but it is a fair point. And as the industrious flanker, who is coming more into his own with every game he plays for the Stormers, points out, there have been training adaptations over the years that have made altitude easier to deal with for coastal players.
“We train at such a high tempo that it negates the effects of altitude,” says Pokomela. “We aren’t bothered by that. You saw in Durban, we overcame the conditions to produce a really top performance against the Sharks. I don’t think conditions can get much worse than that.”
Not that the Stormers are really paying too much attention to the potential climatic impact on Saturday’s return derby, which the Bulls are desperate to win to break what has now become a four-match losing sequence for them against their arch-rivals.
“We’ve gone to Durban in the past prepared for humidity and it hasn’t materialised, and we’ve gone to Joburg and Pretoria before expecting wet weather games because thunderstorms had been predicted, so we know better than to prepare with specific conditions in mind,” said Laker.
“If it is wet, altitude will be less of a factor. I think that is a safe assumption. Maybe the players know more, for they have to do more than my role of carrying water on match days, but it does appear it is worse when the sun is shining.
“Regardless of the weather, we feel we have the game that can cope. I think that is what is coming out of our experience in playing in the URC. We’ve been to Ulster, Cardiff and Glasgow this year in wet conditions so I don’t think the weather should be too much of a challenge for us.”
What will be a challenge for the Stormers is the Bulls team, who are a different animal at home than when they travel and who will be missing far fewer top players to Springbok resting protocols and injury than the Stormers will.
“We know how difficult the Bulls are at home and we know about the great work that Jake White and his coaching team have done at the Pretoria franchise, so we know we are going to have to be on top of our game and improve on a few teething issues from our Durban win if we are to stand a chance of winning,” said Laker.
One player who has been a thorn in the Stormers’ side in the past who definitely won’t be at Loftus is Marcell Coetzee, who captained the Bulls against the Stormers in last year’s URC final.
“Marcell is a phenomenal rugby player and captain and while I don’t mean to denigrate the players like Ruan Nortje who are leading them now, I do think they might miss Marcell’s leadership. I say that just because Marcell is such a great rugby player, any team would miss him.”