'They are still the No.1 team in the country'
SUPER RUGBY SPOTLIGHT: The Stormers are ready to put their disastrous performance in Pretoria firmly behind them as they prepare for another tough South African derby against the Lions at Newlands.
The Stormers were completely outplayed in their 3-40 defeat to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld last weekend and there are not many pundits backing Robbie Fleck’s side to turn things around against the Lions.
The Lions head into Saturday’s encounter after recording their first victory in Buenos Aires when they beat the Jaguares 25-16 in Round One.
For Stormers fullback Dillyn Leyds, the Lions are still the best team in South Africa.
“They [Lions] are still the No.1 team in the country, even though they lost a couple of big names,” Leyds told reporters at the team’s base in Bellville.
“They still got some class players all over. Their backline is phenomenal and a guy like Ruan Combrink was on the bench last weekend. We all know what Elton is capable of and they still got those forwards coming around the corner and you’ve got to stop them.
“It is not easy to go up to Argentina and get the win and they scored some good tries. Nothing much has changed for them, and I feel they are still the No.1 side.
“It will be a good challenge for us. It’s Week Two and our backs are against the wall already so there is no better opportunity for us to stand up to the challenge, especially against a good Lions side at Newlands.”
Leyds admitted that there was a lot of soul-searching after their performance at Loftus Versfeld.
“It was just one of those days, you can’t put a finger on what happened at Loftus.
“We had some good meetings. Hopefully this week we can come back with a lot more energy, a lot more positivity and look forward to the weekend.
“For us, it is really special to be at Newlands and hopefully the faithful [fans] will still come through and we get that support we need because we still believe anything is possible.
“We really do believe we’ve got the right people in all positions to go the whole way. Even though we took a hiding on the weekend, we still believe we can bounce back from it.” Leyds added.
By Warren Fortune
@FortuneWarren
@rugby365com
