Stormers have turned the corner, now riding the wave, says coach

After a tough start to their season the Stormers seem to have turned a corner and are now riding a wave of positivity that could take them into the Champions Cup last 16, if they can upset French giants Racing 92 in Paris on Saturday night.

The Stormers endured a difficult start to their season, winning two and losing four games at the start of the United Rugby Championship (URC), followed by them losing their first two Champions Cup games against RC Toulon and Harlequins.

However, since then they have gone on a three game winning streak, picking up impressive URC wins over the Lions and Sharks to start moving back up the table, followed by a 40-0 Champions Cup thrashing of Sale Sharks at the Cape Town Stadium over the past weekend, to keep them in the running.

They are now in a four-way tussle for qualification to the competition knockouts, with them currently in the fourth and final qualification spot in their six-team pool, level on five points with Harlequins, in third, and Sale in fifth, while Racing prop up the group on four points.

The Stormers arguably have the best chance as although they are playing away in France, they face Racing who have not had the best of seasons, sitting ninth on the French Top 14 log and having won just one Champions Cup game, against Harlequins, while losing to Sale and Glasgow Warriors.

If the Stormers can beat Racing, while Sale lose to table topping Toulon and Harlequins go down to second on the log Glasgow, that would seal their spot, but they can just as easily finish level on points with other teams which would bring in various permutations.

Good space

Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman explained that they were in a good space at the moment and hungry to get a win on Saturday to continue their good form and give them a chance of progressing in the competition.

“We’ve turned a bit of a corner in the momentum of our squad and the way we play. We’ve obviously learnt lessons playing not just overseas but different surfaces,” explained Snyman.

“Playing at Stade Francais last year and Connacht away on a 4G pitch, there’s small little things you pick up and need to get right in the week.

“We want to do well overseas and tour well, that’s going to be important for us as a squad going forward. We really want to dive into this one and are really motivated to play well on Saturday.

“The first thing is to get the win so we can’t really get ahead of ourselves by trying to score four tries and get a bonus point. We need to do the right things to get the victory firstly, and then take it from there.”