'It's gut-wrenching': Stormers are 'running out of runway'

SPOTLIGHT: Lock Ruben van Heerden says the players in the Stormers camp have had some long chats on how to turn their season around.

The Capetonians suffered back-to-back derby defeats to the Bulls (32-33) and the Lions (23-30) and they are in desperate need of log points to stay in touch with the top eight.

It won’t get any easier for John Dobson’s side as they head to Pretoria this week for their return fixture against the Bulls.

The Stormers have been guilty of some erratic play recently and they won’t forget how they were pummelled in the scrums against the Bulls in Cape Town.

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“You can’t dwell too long on those marginal losses,” said Van Heerden.

“They are gut-wrenching. This whole season we have been there and thereabouts with narrow losses. I know it sounds like cliche, but I think it just comes down to us being clinical.

“As a playing group, we said, ‘Listen guys, we are not a bad team despite what everyone thinks and what everyone says’.

“We are a good team and we are creating opportunities and we are getting in the right areas and we are doing the right things.

“We know the ability that we have in this team. Again, it just comes down to how clinical we can be.

“I think that is what it comes down to. That is what it has been about this whole season so far. We haven’t been clinical enough and we want to turn that around.”

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When asked, what the motivation will be heading into a crucial stage of the season, Van Heerden added: “The motivation for this weekend is obviously the team. We owe it to each other to pull together and deliver a performance that we know we are capable of.

“We know we have potential in this team and we haven’t been living up to our potential this season.

“But in saying that we have been doing the right things and we have been creating opportunities, we just haven’t been clinical enough.

“We are doing good things and we need to keep believing in ourselves. We can’t drop our heads.

“We’ve got a few league games left and we can still turn our season around. We are running out of runway at this stage and we can’t afford to drop any more points going forward.

“It’s going to have to happen sooner rather than later, but we can still do something special in this competition.

“The motivation is definitely for each other and our fans. They deserve better as well. We are a big franchise and being 10th on the log is not good enough for us, so we are looking to turn that around.

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