Stormers must be ready for crunch URC games to stay in playoff hunt

For the first time, the Stormers are under a bit of pressure heading into the back end of the United Rugby Championship (URC), sitting just outside the knockout positions with seven rounds remaining.

Currently ninth on the log, the Stormers should be able to secure a place in the URC top eight without too much trouble, but their chances of finishing in the top four and securing at least one home playoff could hinge on the results of their next two games.

Crucially, they will be at home at Cape Town Stadium for both matches, taking on Scottish giants Edinburgh and Irish giants Ulster.

Edinburgh in fourth and Ulster in fifth are both on 34 points, four ahead of the Cape side, and if one or both of them manage to pick up a win in Cape Town, the Stormers will slip further away from the top four.

Unbeaten at home

The Stormers, however, are unbeaten at home this season and should be confident, having picked up thumping wins over Scarlets (52-7) and Zebre (31-7), while they edged thrilling local derbies against the Bulls (26-20) and the Sharks (16-15).

But this will be a different test against teams that can match them with personnel and who will also be desperate to keep their top four hopes alive.

The Stormers are also not unbeatable at home, as Munster showed last season when they beat them in Cape Town towards the end of the pool phase and then beat them again in the final, and Edinburgh and Ulster would do well to take note of those performances.

Time to prepare

With the URC having just entered a short break, to allow the Six Nations to conclude over the next two weekends, it may have come at the perfect time for the Stormers who will be smarting from their 40-22 loss to the Bulls at Loftus last weekend.

They will now have ample time to analyse that result, get over it and prepare for their next major challenge, while they will also be welcoming a few players back from injury and should be a stronger team by the Edinburgh game on 23 March.

These next two games will also be the perfect opportunity for the Stormers to see how they handle the pressure of facing tough must-win games at home against powerful opposition.

Whatever happens, the next two results will likely shape how the Stormers will finish on the URC log and determine whether they will be in contention for a third straight final appearance in the competition.