The SA squad that should win the URC
OPINION: The Stormers arguably boast the most stacked squad in the United Rugby Championship, and it’s not unrealistic to expect them to win the 2026/27 competition or at least make the Final.
John Dobson’s team will get their campaign underway against Connacht in Galway on Friday night, before concluding their two-match European tour against Edinburgh.
Those fixtures are followed by home games against the Sharks, Scarlets, and Ulster, and while the Stormers should aim to bag as many points as possible during the mini tour and the home stretch and get off to a strong start, their last season was the ultimate example of “it’s not how you start, but how you finish”.
The Capetonians went unbeaten in an impressive 10 matches at the start of last season, but they had nothing to show for it at the end of the competition after finishing third on the log and going down to Leinster in the semifinals. They also endured a mid-season slump during which they lost three derbies, and while they managed to dig themselves out of it to a certain extent, they certainly would have wanted more from their campaign. Those lost points could have put them in a very different position.
While the Stormers have been vocal about Project 2029, they have the player personnel to go the distance before then.
Apart from their returning trio of super Springboks in the form Siya Kolisi, Cheslin Kolbe, and Wilco Louw, the Stormers also have Damian Willemse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Zachary Porthen, Cobus Reinach, Deon Fourie, Paul de Villiers, and Ben-Jason Dixon as regular Springboks, while their total number of capped Boks sits at 15.
Then there’s also former BlitzBoks stalwarts Ruhan Nel and Seabelo Senatla, while Junior Boks stars like Yaqeen Ahmed, Markus Muller, and Riley Norton are also on the Stormers’ roster. And there’s the newly acquired Haashim Pead.
Granted, the heavy Bok contingent will also see the Stormers have to do without them at certain stages of the season, but that is something every other Bok-blessed franchise has to deal with, with the Lions being the least affected given that they would only have to make do without Morne van den Berg, Quan Horn, and possibly Boan Venter.
Moreover, the 56-man Stormers squad also includes almost a third of the players from their title-winning 2021/22 squad.
When their Boks are available, the Stormers will be able to field world class players, and even when they’re not, experience is one thing they won’t be lacking, while there will also be talent and X-factor in abundance.
But it all starts on Friday night, even though it’s unlikely that they will inflict the same kind of damage at The Sportsground as they did in their 35-0 smashing of a Test international-stripped Leinster in last season’s opener.
History favours the inaugural URC winners, who have won five of the last five meetings against Connacht, while the Irish side, however, won the most recent fixture 24-33 in Cape Town back in April.
The 4G pitch will also be a factor, as always, and Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman this week reiterated their troubles with the synthetic turf, saying: “We are still lucky at this stage with the conditions, probably the biggest challenge for us in the first two games is that we’re on a 4G pitch. I think the biggest challenge for us is adapting to the surface, not being away from home.”
Dobson’s men took the challenge to the All Blacks during the opening game of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, holding them to 14-all until the 68th minute, before the tourists ran away with it late in the contest.
Showing that kind of fight will be key in securing home playoff berths and given the well-documented struggles of the South Africans on the artificial European pitches, a strong start – and maintaining that form throughout – will lay a strong foundation.
