How will Stormers deal with the Galway gale?
SPOTLIGHT: The Stormers’ four-match unbeaten run may be abruptly halted this weekend.
They raced to the top of the South African conference with three wins and a draw in the last month – surprisingly upstaging the Bulls (30-26) at Loftus Versfeld, playing to a 22-all draw with the Springbok-laden Sharks in Durban, before beating them 20-10 in the return match in Cape Town and then demolishing the Lions (32-10) in Johannesburg.
However, the challenge is about to get a whole lot more formidable.
The Stormers face Connacht in Galway, a harbour city on Ireland’s west coast, which sits where the River Corrib meets the Atlantic Ocean.
It is the notorious Galway weather that could be their biggest challenge.
Unlike Cape Town, where the Stormers have been basking in the summer sun, with temperatures constantly in the high 20s and low 30s, Galway is in the grips of mid-winter.
The temperature seldom gets to double figures, with winds gusts of 74 kilometres-per-hour predicted for Saturday.
The local forecast says it will be ‘breezy’ with a little rain in the afternoon.
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Connacht coach Andy Friend was a little more forthright about what the visitors can expect.
His team is desperate to be a bit more consistent, having endured a tricky spell that threatened to undermine their URC play-off dreams and Champions Cup qualification hopes – a period that included losses to Ulster away (12-32) and Glasgow Warriors at homer (20-42).
Friend hopes the ‘home ground advantage’ this weekend will ensure they complete their comeback – facing a team one point and one place behind them on the standings, with two games in hand.
“In terms of the Stormers, I see the weather over there [Cape Town] is nice and warm,” Friend told the Irish Independent.
“It’s not windy and p***ing rain.
“And they’ll come here [Galway] and it will be.
“And that is an advantage to us because we are used to it.
“And we’re back to full crowds, which is brilliant.”
He admitted it is how players deal with the conditions on the field.
“If we don’t front up and we’re not mentally and physically in the right space, it doesn’t matter whether you are home or away or playing in the moon, you’re not going to win.”
Source: independent.ie
