Stormers must bounce back against Cardiff, says excited Sithole

Sti Sithole is happy to be back playing in the blue and white colours of the Stormers after spending most of his senior career with the Lions in Joburg.

The KZN-schooled, but former University of Cape Town student earned just three Stormers caps as a 21-year-old in 2015 before moving up north in 2017 after a short stop-over at the Southern Kings in the Eastern Cape.

But the now 30-year-old prop forward is back in the Cape and loving his rugby once again.

“I’m here to contribute in every way I can and to make an impact. It’s a challenging task, but I’m excited,” said Sithole.

“Everybody can see there is something special being built here in Cape Town with this Stormers team. There’s a real feeling of making this city proud.”

Bounce back time

The Stormers, URC winners in the inaugural season and runners-up in the second edition of the competition, have had a mixed start to their 2023/24 campaign and will be eager to knock over Cardiff on Friday in their final European tour match before returning home.

“It’s massively important that we bounce back this week,” said Sithole referring to last weekend’s 10-3 defeat to Munster in Limerick.

“We understand the position we’re in so it’s imperative for us to get a positive result and to keep chasing our standards.”

Making their job a bit tougher on Friday at Cardiff Arms Park is the fact the match will once again be played on an artificial pitch … and Cardiff are on a three-match winless run, making them a desperate and dangerous side.

Cardiff clash

“I think it’s pretty obvious that there is a difference between grass and an artificial surface. The pitch is taxing on some of the heavies, but rugby is rugby and we need to execute our plan on any surface,” said Sithole.

“We’re similar results-wise of late and I’m sure they’re also gunning for a good result on Friday because they are a good team. They have a big pack and a good kicking game so we need to enforce ourselves and our plan on them.”

Sithole’s Stormers “debut” in his second stint with the team has coincided with the absence of several key players, mainly those men who were with the Springboks on World Cup duty.

“I know we will get the cohesion right because we fully trust what we’re trying to build with this squad,” he said, ahead of the anticipated return of the likes of Manie Libbok, Damian Willemse, Deon Fourie and Frans Malherbe in the coming weeks.