Being underdogs might just help Stormers

We know when last it was that the DHL Stormers lost to the Hollywoodbets Sharks in a top level competition game, that being the Rainbow Cup clash in Cape Town in early 2021, but when last did they go to Durban as underdogs?

GAMES AGAINST LA ROCHELLE GAVE SUBSTANCE TO DOBSON’S POINT

Certainly the two games played last year against the then reigning two time Investec Champions Cup champions La Rochelle gave substance to Dobson’s claims. They narrowly won the Pool game last December, and were desperately unlucky to lose the round of 16 knock-out game against Ronan O’Gara’s behemoth team this past April.

Those two games, plus the one where they went to Welford Road to play Leicester Tigers in an early Champions Cup pool game with a second string team, were a measure of the Stormers’ capabilities. And also perhaps an indicator of how dangerous they might be when they reprise their 2022 role of being underdogs.

While he emphasised that the focus for the Stormers at this point of the season was one of wanting to prove themselves internally rather than externally, assistant coach Dawie Snyman appeared to agree with the theory when he was asked about it during a press conference earlier in the buildup week to the Sharks game.

“You are right in terms of us wanting to prove ourselves. We are very proud of the way we play and the game we can put together, and we know we need to get the results now that we know we are capable of,” said Snyman.

“Obviously it is nice to win when you are underdogs and there is a small circle of intensity and focus. We see this game and the next few as an opportunity to get our game going.”

Roughly translated, that could mean the return of the desperation that drove the Stormers in 2022, and if they did win in Durban it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done so unexpectedly with a depleted team.

The Loftus win in 2023 was achieved by a team that had been as depleted as Saturday’s one will be and they were up against a Bulls side that was at full strength.

UNDER NO ILLUSIONS ABOUT DURBAN CHALLENGE

Snyman, though, is under no illusions about the task that awaits his team at Kings Park.

“The Sharks were in really good form before the break and they were very impressive in beating both Glasgow Warriors and Munster,” said Snyman.

“We know they will be in a confident mood and will be eager to continue with their winning momentum. We have been training together for three weeks now and the Sharks will have players coming back, but the guys coming in from their point of view are world class players.

“They might need to catch up on a few things that the other guys would have been working on in training over the past few weeks, but they are also a clever outfit and will know they should keep it simple against us. They really performed well against Munster and Glasgow.

"We have an advantage in that we’ve trained together for three weeks but that is counter-balanced by the fact their players (the Boks) have been playing.”

The Sharks game sets in motion a tough sequence of games for the Stormers, with the home Champions Cup game against Toulon in Gqeberha coming the week after this before they head to England for their first away Pool game in that competition. Then it’s back to Cape Town and DHL Stadium, a venue they’ve only played at once so far this season, for two URC derbies against the Emirates Lions and the Sharks.

“Both competitions are important for us, so we do need to use this Durban game to build some capacity going into the Toulon game. We then go to London to play Harlequins before returning to play the Lions a week later, so we are going to have to touch on our broader squad in selection and give a few guys opportunities.”

It is unclear whether Ben-Jason Dixon is available for the Durban game but otherwise the only current recently injured Bok back this week is Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, with Frans Malherbe, Steven Kitshoff, Salmaan Moerat, Deon Fourie, Damian Willemse and Evan Roos all still out.

According to Snyman, Dixon will be back shortly if not this week, so will Moerat, and Fourie is back in a few weeks, while Roos is expected back at the end of December. Willemse is out with the injury he suffered last time out against the Warriors until February.