In-form Stormers setting the pace among SA’s URC teams

After three weeks of local United Rugby Championship derby action, it was the Stormers who surprisingly moved into pole position in the SA conference after they secured a superb 20-10 win over the Sharks in Cape Town over the weekend.

The Stormers had only managed one win and a draw in their opening five games, but are currently unbeaten in the last three weeks, with an away win against the Bulls, away draw against the Sharks and now a home win against the same opposition.

This has lifted them to 10th on the URC table and sees them as the highest placed SA side going into their final local derby of this run, an away clash against the Lions this coming weekend.

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Against the Sharks, the Stormers put in a solid attacking performance against one of the competitions best defensive teams and had they been a bit more clinical they could have walked away with a bigger win.

“We wanted to play with more rhythm and attack, which we didn’t manage to in the first half, but in the second we were sticking to the plan, attacking directly down the middle which was very effective. Our kicking behind was also very important, we got two 50/22s,” said Stormers coach John Dobson.

“I think we squandered quite a bit but we played much better than last week. I think the Sharks had one entry in the second half which was the try, so I think that was pretty compelling in the end.”

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For the Sharks they have to go back to the drawing board as they are arguably the strongest SA side and have suffered a home draw and away loss in games they went into as favourites.

“I think the start is really important in games like this, especially in games that are going to be close, like last week which was a draw. We had three opportunities in the first 20 minutes and unfortunately our accuracy and execution let us down,” explained Sharks coach Sean Everitt.

“The same can be said about the Stormers, they also had opportunities in the first half. What we didn’t want to do was give them running meters from the back and unfortunately the kicking accuracy wasn’t what we wanted and that played into their hands. They deserved their victory.”

The Sharks now take on the Bulls in Pretoria in their next local derby.