Stormers gunning for good start to URC campaign

The Stormers will be looking to get their United Rugby Championship (URC) campaign off to the best possible start when they take on Ospreys at the Morganstone Brewery Field in Bridgend, Wales on Saturday night (kick-off 8:35pm).

The Stormers have been notoriously poor travellers over their first three URC campaigns, but despite that they have made the knockouts every season, featured in two finals and won the inaugural version of the competition.

If they want to make their season easier, winning on the road is a must and that is something they will be looking to do against Ospreys, who they will also be wanting to gain some revenge over after they stunned them 27-21 in Cape Town last season.

“We have taken notes out of last season. That first tour didn’t go so well, and we were chasing our tails for the rest of the season, and it put us under pressure,” explained Stormes assistant coach Dawie Snyman.

“It will be important to start well, but we are also expecting one or two things not to be perfect. But there is excitement to get onto the pitch to see where we are at and where we are going.

“It’s the start of the season, and we are not going to look past ourselves. We want to build our game and build momentum. But results will be important.

“It (last season’s loss to Ospreys) just shows you the quality of this competition, you can’t relax for any moment in this comp. Any team on the day, if you are not on par, can put you under pressure. Ospreys really did play well against us last time out.”

Stormers return

The Stormers will see a number of familiar new faces on the field this weekend, with the return of a few players that had left the union previously.

Lock JD Schickerling is back after a few years playing in Japan, while scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage returns for a second time, after he left the Stormers for France early in his career, and then left again for Italy, with him now likely to end his career in Cape Town.

Another welcomed return sees centre Ruhan Nel in line for a start, with him being out injured with a serious knee injury since December, and he is excited to get back into it.

“I am happy to be back. It has been a long nine months, so I am just looking forward to getting stuck in. The nerves are there. Not necessarily about playing, but you just want everything to go smoothly with the knee and body,” said Nel.

“But last week did me good. Getting 40 minutes on the pitch against the Pumas (in a pre-season warm-up), who are a quality outfit, at altitude. It was good just to run around a bit and get confidence in the knee.”