Stormers not Champions Cup material just yet
SPOTLIGHT: The Stormers are not letting all the praise get to their heads as they prepare for an important United Rugby Championship derby against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Capetonians have enjoyed a good couple of weeks in the tournament with a win [30-26] in Pretoria against the Bulls and a draw (22-22 in Durban) and a win (20-10 in Cape Town) against the Sharks.
Those results have lifted the Stormers to 10th in the overall standings and top spot in the South African Shield standings.
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Stormers head coach John Dobson knows that victory against the Lions, a team they lost to in Cape Town in December, will put them in good stead going forward.
“It’s a very important game for lots of reasons,” Dobson told reporters via an online press conference on Wednesday.
“In terms of the South African Conference, it is critical.
“We also know that we lost a home game convincingly to the same team and in terms of the South African Conference the only way we could make up for that is if we win away, so that’s really important to us.
“It’s also important for us with the point of view that we do go on the road in two weeks’ time with a really hard fixture in Connacht.”
Dobson added: “It’s a very important game for us result-wise in the overall competition and in terms of what happened at Cape Town Stadium because that was a major disappointment for us.
“It’s also important for us that we keep growing. We got a lot of plaudits for the last few weeks, but we can’t let that go to our heads.
“We are probably not as good as some of the praise we got. I think we are still very much a work in progress and what we want to do is make a statement to get better every week.
“Last week was not the finished product by any stretch and that is why we also want to get better this week.”
A long way to go
Dobson believes his players have become better tacticians on the field.
“We are trekking nicely in terms of results and it was a good performance against the Sharks. I don’t think it means that the Stormers are revived or Champions Cup qualifiers yet,” Dobson added.
“There is a long way to travel. We mustn’t forget in Durban we had a really hard time. We had a similar feeling on tour.
“From that game against Benetton [18-22 defeat] and then we were quite good in that first half against Munster [18-34 defeat] and then against Edinburgh, who were on top of the table a week ago, we drew [20-20], which we probably should have won.
“Then we finished with a win [24-10] in Newport [against the Dragons] and then we got a slap by the cold fish in the face by the Lions [19-37 defeat] in our first home game.
“I do think that our playing style and some of our tactical stuff is definitely improving.”
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