Stormers looking for some ‘spark’, and points, in URC home run

The Stormers are excited to be back in the Western Cape and are looking forward to their run of home games in the United Rugby Championship, starting with their match against Zebre in Stellenbosch on Sunday.

It has been a tough run of mostly away matches for the team so far in the URC, and they will be eager to make the home ground advantage count and make a play for the competition knockouts.

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“It is very exciting for us to be back at home. Out of our 10 games so far we have played eight away, so it’s nice being back at our home ground and not having to travel every weekend. We are really looking forward to the next seven games at home,” said Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman.

“I think we are quite happy with where we are, so looking ahead we need to focus on ourselves, keep improving as a team and make sure we are ready for the next challenge.”

In a change-up, the Stormers will be playing at Danie Craven Stadium this weekend, instead of Cape Town Stadium, due to a clash with the Cape Town Cycle Tour, leading to the one-off match in Stellenbosch.

Stormers scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies said they were excited for the change of scenery, but he admitted it was not something they were dwelling on too much as they looked to bounce back from their loss against Connacht in Ireland just over a week ago.

“Playing in Stellenbosch is something new for us. I think it is going to be a nice challenge for us, and it’s something I believe all of the guys are excited about. We’ve had a few training sessions in Stellenbosch this week and it’s going to be nice,” said Jantjies.

“But I think the important thing for us is to not worry about where we play, and sort of get better from where we were in our previous game.

“There were a lot of learnings that we took out of the Connacht game. It was a bit frustrating as we couldn’t play like we wanted to because of the conditions, but that is something we can fix if we go to those conditions again.

“So playing back at home now for the next seven or eight weeks is going to be exciting. There is going to be nice weather and playing in home conditions will hopefully put a spark in the guys to play our brand of rugby.”