Stormers want a seat at Europe's top table
INTERVIEW: ‘Unquestionably!’ That single word encapsulates the enormity of the challenge awaiting the Stormers in Dublin on Saturday.
Bookmakers are giving them a 12-point headstart.
The team from Cape Town will enter the Lansdowne Road cauldron for a United Rugby Championship semifinal face-off with Leinster, without some key forwards and their two Springbok halfback stars.
Director of Rugby John Dobson was forced into changes after injuries to wing Seabelo Senatla, flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and lock Ruben van Heerden.
With seasoned second row forward JD Schickerling ruled out for the season, and returning captain Salmaan Moerat still short of a gallop and playing off the bench, the loss of Van Heerden was a significant blow.
The loss of star playmaker Feinberg-Mngomezulu also robs them of some significant defensive physicality.
They are up against a Leinster side that boasts close to 1,000 Test caps – including centurions and British and Irish Lions stars Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier, and Jack Conan.
Add in other international stalwarts like Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Jimmy O’Brien, Jamison Gibson-Park and captain Caelan Doris, not to mention All Black centre Rieko Ioane.
Dobson believes they can overcome the losses, but acknowledges it is a tall order.
(Article continues below the Dobson interview …)
“We’ve had some ‘statement’ games this season, he said of their wins over the Bulls, including at Loftus Versfeld, and some good wins on the road in the first half of the season.
“However, this [game] will be it in terms of intensity,” he told Rugby365.
He referenced Leinster’s Champions Cup loss to French giants Bordeaux as an example of the challenge they will face.
“The way they marched Bordeaux upfield with their phase play was pretty impressive,” Dobson said.
“It is going to be another level up for us.”
The ‘motivation’ is that if they cause an upset, it will be without key players such as Schickerling, Van Heerden, Frans Malherbe, Deon Fourie, Cobus Reinach, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
“If we do something special [on Saturday], we’ll be able to say we are at the top table.”
The Stormers boss admitted his team will have to “get everything right” on the day, work incredibly hard to get the big ‘W’.
“It is going to be the toughest [challenge] we face this year, but we are up for it.”
The Stormers hold a surprising lead over Leinster in their URC head-to-head with three wins and one draw in their five meetings.
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