Undaunted Stormers ready for Cardiff URC challenge

An undaunted Stormers team is fired up and ready to take on Cardiff in their final United Rugby Championship (URC) early season tour match at Cardiff Arms Park in Wales on Friday night (kick-off 9:35pm).

After a strong start to the season with two wins in South Africa, the Stormers have found the going tough on the road with three successive losses, to Glasgow Warriors in Scotland, Benetton in Italy and Munster in Ireland.

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Despite heading into the Cardiff clash off the back of those defeats, Stormers centre Ruhan Nel firmly believes that the team is on the right path and as long as they stick to their guns the results will come.

“The win will come if we keep following our processes. Our changeroom after the Munster game (over the past weekend) wasn’t one of a losing team,” explained Nel.

“Obviously we were disappointed because we lost and they are the one team in the URC we haven’t beaten yet, but we were good in so many aspects that the guys are genuinely positive.

“We are not feeling the pressure or talking about it because the minute you get too concerned about the results you can start getting tunnel vision. We mustn’t be a team that is scared of trying things.”

Poor weather and 4G

One of the big things the SA sides have to adapt to on their early season tours is the dreadful weather conditions in Europe, with cold and wet weather the name of the game, while they also have to come to grips with the tricky 4G pitches as well.

The Stormers played their first game of tour against Glasgow on a 4G pitch and will be on it again against Cardiff, and will need to get up to speed as fast as possible.

“In SA it is 30 degrees and here it is 4 or 5 degrees, and Friday will probably be wet and we are playing on a 4G pitch. We have had training sessions on the 4G and we actually spoke about it after one cycle of training,” said Nel.

“You almost feel like you are half a metre too quick and you don’t have that resistance underneath your feet that you would on grass. You feel quicker when you are running and you get up to top speed a lot quicker.”

Nel continued: “The threat is there from over-running. You need to be aware that you need to give yourself time on the ball.

“It’s a completely different dynamic. The breakdowns are quicker, you get there quicker. I was lucky enough to experience the 4G a few years ago with the sevens, but I haven’t played on this sort of pitch since the URC started, I was either injured or not involved in the game.

“There’s a big difference from playing on grass, but it’s just about creating some time for ourselves and not rushing decisions.”