Stormers have that good feeling back as they head over to Ulster

The Stormers have that good feeling firmly back, after their 29-18 bonus point win over Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday lifted them up into the top eight of the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Just a few games ago the Stormers were in a difficult position down in 14^th place on the log, heading up to Loftus to face the high flying Bulls, knowing that a loss would leave them with a lot to do to get themselves into the URC playoffs come the end of the season.

They then produced a stunning 19-16 upset over the Highveld side, and followed that up with a full house of points away against Scarlets, which has seen them move up to eighth on the log.

Spring in their step

They next face struggling Ulster in Ireland on Friday night, but with a spring in their step, especially after the successful return to play of Springbok stars Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who was man of the match against Scarlets, and Damian Willemse, who came off the bench in the same game.

“I was a bit frustrated with some elements of the performance. But the players were good and we are heading in the right direction. Loftus was a big turning point for us,” said Director of Rugby John Dobson after the match.

“Just the return of Damian and Sacha, we will continue to get so much better next week, and Suleiman (Hartzenberg) will also be back. So the group is feeling confident and happy.

“It is a short turnaround and Ulster is a tough place to play on a Friday night. We budgeted one win from two on this tour, so to get five points at the start is brilliant. If we can get something at the Kingspan and then have that home run we will be in the mix.

“The last two wins were essential for (making the) playoffs, and now it is about where we finish. It won’t be as high as where we would have wanted (to get) a home playoff. But there is certainly a good feeling in the camp.”

Calmness under pressure

Looking at the match Dobson explained that the calmness shown by the team pleased him, despite it being a bit of an erratic performance, and for them to pick up a late try scoring bonus point and see out the win after being put under immense pressure in the second half was a big positive.

“It was one of those games where we will take the outcome over the process. We weren’t exactly poor, but we were under the pump for a lot of the game,” said Dobson.

“The players afterwards were calm and pretty much had a job done kind of mentality. For us as coaches it was a really tense experience. But having the calmness of Damian and Warrick (Gelant) was really important. And I thought Sacha played brilliantly.

“I think the biggest frustration was that we lost the territory game hopelessly. We weren’t too worried about possession, we were happy for them to have the ball. But where they had the ball was just so far from where we wanted them to be.”