Stormers prepared to face the ‘walking dead’ London Irish

The Stormers are prepared for a massive Champions Cup clash against English Premiership outfit London Irish, who have been nicknamed the ‘walking dead’, at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night (kick-off 7:30pm).

Both the Stormers and London Irish lost their Champions Cup openers to French opposition last weekend and will thus be desperate to get their campaigns back on track with a win in the match.

Stormers coach John Dobson is expecting a real scrap in the match and knows that London Irish are not a side that can easily be put away, but concedes that his team has to make sure they pick up the win playing at home.

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“I heard someone nickname them the ‘Walking Dead’, because they never go away, they never die. We know this is a team that really fights,” explained Dobson.

“We saw that in round one when they had 14 men against Montpellier, the French champions. They have a solid set-piece, but a really high-speed, attacking brand of rugby.”

“Like every team we want to make it into the last 16, so it makes this home Champions Cup match a really crucial game. We are also excited to present a Champions Cup game in Cape Town.”

Bok boost

The Stormers are boosted by the return of two more Springboks to their ranks, with SA Rugby player of the year nominee Frans Malherbe, and Marvin Orie back in the mix for the match.

London Irish have not had a good start to this season’s English Premiership, and at the halfway stage currently sit second from bottom on the log, however, Dobson is not reading too much into that ahead of the match.

“I know they lost four or five games in the Premiership, but their point’s difference is only -22. So that indicates that they were all close games,” said Dobson.

“They are actually quite an all-round team. They have one of the most effective lineouts in terms of contesting, with (former Australian international) Rob Simmonds.

“They play a really attractive brand of rugby. They don’t go away. Benhard Janse van Rensburg is the guy who does the Andre Esterhuizen-role. He’s the momentum-giver. They also have real speed out wide.”

Dobson believes that the Stormers’ loss against Clermont over the past weekend will have a positive impact on the squad in the long run.

“Nobody expected us to win in Clermont. We could have sent a ‘B-team’ there and fought. But I strongly felt, with this team, if we have been to play that Clermont team in zero degrees in that stadium, there’s not much to be scared of,” said Dobson.

“We will be much better for the experience. Guys like Neethling Fouche and Marcel Theunissen, they will all be better for it. I think we got it right, despite one or two things going wrong.

“The big thing is that it has stood us in good stead. We have three massive home games coming up, one critical Champions Cup and two big URC games. So I think we will be better for the experience.”