It has been so far so good for the DHL Stormers in their quest to turn around what in previous Vodacom United Rugby Championship seasons has been their biggest bogey - winning away games overseas.
They’ve had no problems in the past winning away in South Africa, and have beaten the Vodacom Bulls more times at Loftus in the URC era than the Bulls have beaten them.
And ditto the Hollywoodbets Sharks, who have scored only one win against the Stormers in the URC - that being a one point win in Durban last November. When the Lions won in Johannesburg last year it was the first time they’d won at home against the Cape side.
But overseas has been different, and it has been costly to their chances of doing well in a competition they won in the inaugural season. The last two years they either started off their campaigns overseas or travelled early on, like they have this year, and on both occasions they struggled and it set back their campaign.
Ultimately, their slow starts were why, while they have always comfortably managed a top eight finish, have fallen tantalisingly short of securing a place in the coveted top four.
Their current tour has been different, with the Stormers winning both overseas games played so far, with the clash with the better of the two Italian teams, Benetton, to come on Saturday. Both games were won fairly comfortably, with Scarlets being seen off 34-0 and Zebre going down 31-13 in Parma last weekend.
EASY WINS BUT AGAINST TEAMS THEY’VE BEATEN BEFORE
That’s a scoreline across two games of 65-13, and it certainly belies any contention that the Stormers may still have a problem playing overseas and haven’t buried whatever it was that was proving a stumbling block. But as assistant coach Rito Hlungwani pointed out, the teams that the Stormers have beaten are teams they’ve beaten away before.
The Stormers scored a nail-biting win over the Scarlets in the first season to clinch their second place finish in the last game of their title winning season of 2021/2022, and they’ve never lost to Zebre. Anywhere. In fact, they were even more comprehensive winners in Parma last season than they were last Saturday - they won 26-5 in October 2024.
They then went on to get thrashed by Edinburgh, a result that brought a whole different perspective. Losing to Benetton in Treviso won’t destroy the Stormers like that result against Sean Everitt’s men did, but winning it will push the narrative of the Stormers having profited from adjustments they’ve made to their touring a lot further.
“I think the big assessment of whether we are cracking the away code can only be made after this game, after the completion of the three games on tour,” said Hlungwani from Treviso.
“We have beaten Scarlets and Zebre overseas before, whereas we have never beaten Benetton on their home ground. This is the moment of truth.
"It is after this that we will look at the adjustments in our travel and the other small changes we have made and decide whether it is working or not. Then we will plan for the next one, which is Munster away (at the end of November).”
NOT READING ANYTHING INTO DEFEAT TO EDINBURGH
Given how Munster and the Stormers have started the season that game in Limerick will be a big one for both teams, but the Stormers can’t afford to be looking ahead at the re-enactment of the 2023 final, which was won by Munster in Cape Town, as Benetton are a tough proposition despite being well beaten by Edinburgh last weekend.
“We have always struggled previously on tour but we are now trying a a couple of things and so far we have picked up good performances,” said the Stormers forwards coach.
“We feel we are ready to compete and go for big wins away from home. With no exception to Benetton, they are a team we can really target as a test to see if our plans and small adjustments to how we tour can make a difference.”
Hlungwani reminded the media that there is folly in reading too much into the away form of the Italian teams in the competition.
“There are no easy games in this competition, we are well aware of that. Benetton are just like Zebre, who lost badly the week before they played us away and then fought hard against us at home. They left out nine top players (in Edinburgh) and clearly target home games. They kept their Italian internationals at home to target this game.
“They will put out their best team against us, with all their Italian internationals, and it is something we are expecting and are ready for,” he added.
REVENGE FOOTING WILL MAKE BENETTON TOUGHER
That might be why newly recalled Springbok blindside flank Ben-Jason Dixon referred to the Treviso game as “a kind of playoff fixture”, a status that was attached to last years visit by Benetton to the DHL Stadium. They came to Cape Town needing to win to get themselves into a prime position on the URC log, and got thumped.
“I didn’t play in that game but I know all the other guys in the camp who did play against them will be drawing on that memory and yes, it will inspire some confidence for us,” said Dixon.
Yes, but at the same time that defeat, which was pretty embarrassing, will put Benetton on a revenge footing. All of which makes Saturday a particularly important day on the Stormers’ calendar and in their season.