Stormers ready to ‘leave it all out there’ against Glasgow Warriors

Stormers prop Neethling Fouche says that they are ready to empty the tank when they battle it out against defending United Rugby Championship (URC) champs, Glasgow Warriors, at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 1:45pm).

It is the final URC match before the international break, with the teams not in action again until the end of November.

It has been a difficult start to the season for the Stormers, with them winning one of their three tour matches which had left them bottom of the log before the previous weekend’s action.

However, their return home saw their fortunes begin to turn with an impressive 34-19 bonus point win over 2022-23 URC champs Munster at the Cape Town Stadium, which was their first ever win over the Irish side, who had beaten them twice in Cape Town previously.

Buoyed by that result the Stormers now head into their clash against last season’s champs with plenty of confidence and momentum and they will be looking to continue moving up from their current position of 12^th on the URC log.

“We are going into a four week break after this so there is no reason not to leave everything out there on the field,” said Fouche ahead of the important clash.

Looking at the scrum battle, Fouche was quick to admit that the Stormers had struggled in the set pieces on their tour overseas, but they were finally starting to find their feet and they needed to continue that good momentum.

Scrumming

“Scrumming is close to my heart and I told the guys continuity doesn’t just come, it takes a couple of weeks for the guys to find each other,” explained Fouche.

“We knew we weren’t going to be at our best in the first couple of games, but as long as we are going in the right direction, we can take that into the clash (against Glasgow).

“The forwards are happiest when they can grind in close quarters, allowing the backs to attack the space created. It’s all about building on what we did against Munster and taking that momentum forward.”

Glasgow have a strong front row, featuring Scottish internationals Zander Fagerson, Rory Sutherland and Johnny Matthews, and they enjoyed a solid performance against the Sharks over the past weekend, so the Stormers will need to be fully prepared for what they are going to bring.

“You don’t get to be champions by luck. We know the challenge ahead,” admitted Fouche.

“We watched their scrum against the Sharks and they gave a good account of themselves against Springboks like Ox (Nche), Bongi (Mbonambi), Vince (Vincent Koch), Eben (Etzebeth), and Siya (Kolisi). We have to be ready for that.”