Stormers: The good, bad and ugly
STAT ATTACK: With the United Rugby Championship approaching its business end, @rugby365com looks at key statistics of the South African franchises heading into the quarterfinals.
First up is the Stormers. Ranked fifth place for a second consecutive season in a row, the Capetonians have been good in some departments but atrocious in others.
It’s been a season of blowing hot and cold for the Cape Town-based franchise.
A poor return from their overseas tour with two wins from six attempts and zero wins in the Champions Cup shows a clear regression since their 2022 championship-winning heroics.
Things are not all doom and gloom as they are set for a repeat of the 2024 URC quarterfinals where they will face defending champions Glasgow Warriors on May 30.
@rugby365com looks at three key areas that could affect the Stormers in their quest to cause an upset and advance to the semifinals.
The good: Attack
The Stormers finished the regular season as the best-attacking outfit in the competition. They are third for points scored (507), first for offloads (234) and first for clean breaks (176).
With players such as Manie Libbok, Damian Willemse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, it is no surprise that the Stormers claimed the top spot in the attacking department.
Wing Leolin Zas has been their best finisher thus far and is in joint first place for tries scored (9), an impressive feat considering the time he spent on the sideline throughout the season through injury.
He also won the URC top try-scorer award in 2022 with 11 dot downs.
The article continues below…
The bad: Scrum success rate
For a team that used to pride itself on a dominant scrum for the last 10 years, the 2024-5 season has been one to forget for the Stormers.
In their defence, they’ve suffered heavy losses in the front row throughout the season – most notably the retirement of former club captain Steven Kitshoff and more recently Brok Harris.
The Stormers have an 83 percent scrum success rate. The worst out of all the teams in the URC.
The positive side is that they are ranked third for scrum penalties won (third), but on the flipside tighthead prop Neethling Fouche is ranked third for scrum penalties conceded (18).
The article continues below…
The ugly: Defence
Attack wins games, defence wins championships. Many top coaches have echoed that statement and it’s been backed up time and time again with the odd exception here and there.
Despite being the best-attacking outfit in the competition, the Stormers are statistically the worst defensively.
They are last with a 76 percent tackle success rate and 13th for total tackles missed (344).
This is a deeply concerning stat for a team that was ranked first for their defensive duties in the inaugural URC season especially heading into the play-offs where the margin for error is extremely small.
Stormers’ 2025 defensive stats
Stormers 2022 defensive stats
Related articles:
Bulls: The good, bad and ugly
Sharks: The good, bad and ugly
Lions: The good, bad and ugly
Image credit: @GettyImages
