‘Most important game of the season,’ says Stormers’ Dobson

The Stormers are primed and ready for their biggest challenge of the United Rugby Championship so far as they welcome Glasgow Warriors to the Cape Town Stadium for their match on Friday evening (kick-off 6:30pm).

Third placed Glasgow and sixth placed Stormers are both in terrific form and are well in the hunt for a home play-off spot and both will be targeting a win that would set them up well ahead of their last two games of the competition’s pool stage.

However, the Stormers’ focus is still on securing a play-off berth first, before they turn their attention to a home quarterfinal.

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“They seem to be full of confidence and I’ve seen some interesting quotes in the build-up. They are convinced they are going to win,” said Stormers coach John Dobson.

“So that should make a good game as we are feeling confident and are in a good space, but maybe not as brazen as them.

“Our first goal was to get into the play-offs and we are probably a win off that. Where those play-offs take place becomes next week’s thing.

“This to me feels like our most important game of the season so far, in terms of securing a play-off, we want to play in Europe next year and we want to play at home. Friday’s game is really important from that point of view.”

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The Stormers head into the match on a five game winning run, including beating the Bulls in a top of the SA conference clash in their last outing and will be full of confidence taking on Glasgow at home.

Glasgow come into the game off a solid win over Zebre, however their match before that saw them surprisingly upset by the Cardiff Blues, and the Stormers will take note of that.

The Stormers have named a strong team for the match, but it is their box office bench featuring Warrick Gelant and Salmaan Moerat that could play a big part.

“It’s a very strong bench. Salmaan is international quality. Warrick can change a game and it’s very exciting if you look at the impact he has made off the bench before,” said Dobson.

“I am very excited for Nama (Xaba), he has done incredibly well in a tough Currie Cup campaign, and he deserves an opportunity.

“Obviously we will miss Deon (Fourie), he’s been great for us, but I think Junior (Pokomela) and Nama are two amazing replacements.”