Stormers prepared for very tough match against Edinburgh

The Stormers are ready and prepared for one of the strongest teams in the United Rugby Championship (URC) this season, as they host Edinburgh at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 2pm).

Despite the Stormers having yet to lose to Edinburgh, after drawing their game in Scotland in the pool stages last year, before a strong performance saw them emerge 28-17 winners at home in the competition quarterfinals, coach John Dobson is expecting a tough match.

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“They are a really good all round team. A lot of these URC teams are really good multi-phase teams. I think Edinburgh was number one in possession stats (last season). Their lineouts and set piece is very good, with their two Scottish international props,” said Dobson.

“Where  they really stand out over other teams is their x-factor with players like Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham, so they are quite a good all round team.

“They have close to 14 or 16 internationals. It’s a really good team on paper. They contested well with the Bulls lineout wise, they hung around the scrums and you saw what Darcy Graham did. So I would say they look like one of the strongest teams in the URC this season.”

Ingrained playing style

Dobson is however very happy with the way the Stormers started the season over the past weekend against Connacht and was thrilled to see that their playing style has been ingrained in the squad.

“What surprised me in last weekend’s game was it felt like a game from last season. That surprised me because of the length of the break and the change in personnel. I think we had about five or six starters from the final that started (against Connacht),” said Dobson.

“It looked a lot like we played last season. Some moments of brilliance, some ordinary patches and the fourth try bonus point after the hooter, it was uncanny.

“So that gave me a lot of optimism that our DNA was so entrenched in the squad, even in a guy like Marcel Theunissen who didn’t play much last season. I also thought Blomme (new signing Clayton Blommetjies) was uncannily like Warrick (Gelant).”

Stormers lock Marvin Orie is also looking forward to the challenge of Edinburgh and admits the squad is happy to be back home at the Cape Town Stadium, after they started their campaign in Stellenbosch.

“We are happy to be back. Everyone is excited, there have been a lot of good memories made here already and the stadium feels like home for us. We have been training really hard the last few weeks, so the work has been put in and it’s now on us to do the job on Saturday,” said Orie.