Though the United Rugby Championship remains their bread and butter, the Stormers will go flat out to secure an Investec Champions Cup playoff berth when they face Racing 92 in Paris on Saturday, coach John Dobson said.
An upbeat Dobson was talking after his team thrashed Sale Sharks 40-0 at the Cape Town Stadium to claim their first Champions Cup win.
After losing their opening two games it was a must-win clash for the Stormers ahead of a make-or-break pool four clash against Racing 92 in France on Saturday.
The Stormers ran in six tries to climb to fourth spot in the six-team pool to the delight the 30,000 fans in attendance.
“What we really got right today was our transitions and denting up the middle before going wide, rather than trying to be too lateral, and that’s what we always try to do and what we were after,” Dobson said.
“It’s also not hard to work out that we got some big personnel who’ve come back from injury.
“There’s definitely room for improvement and we’ve got another gear, but it’s a special win.
“I’m happy and can’t complain.
“But we must keep perspective on where we are with the competitions.
“We’re one from three in the Champions Cup and we’ve got to think what Saturday can spit up, and the next week, because our day job is the URC.
“I don’t want to think of euphoria and this is our season’s crowning.
“It’s a different tournament and we have to be careful about getting excited.
“We’ll go for it next week. We have to — there’s not one game we won’t.
“But we might have a look at a few guys because the week after our game against Racing 92, it’s Leinster in Dublin, and maybe look at some players who’ve gone through the whole summer period with high workloads.
“But there’s no doubt when we’re on the field next week against Racing 92 we’ll be going for it, no question — either playing for a place in the Challenge Cup or a place in the last 16.
“We pride ourselves that in every competition we’ve been in as a group, we’ve made the playoffs and we’ll be absolutely determined.”
Dobson shed light on injured stars Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse and Dan du Plessis.
He said Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who injured his shoulder against the Sharks on December 28, will only be available again in three to four weeks for the local derbies in the URC.
Dobson revealed that Willemse (groin) is due back in late March and Du Plessis is up to four weeks away from a return from a knee injury.
Sale Sharks made a bright start dominating territory and possession in the opening exchanges, but the Stormers absorbed the early pressure.
The home side nearly scored from their half, but Wandisile Simelane struggled to control a kick ahead under pressure in front of the tryline.
Simelane was instrumental in the opening try, showing impressive footwork to put JD Schickerling over on the occasion of his 50th Stormers cap.
The second try came from right on their tryline as a clearing kick from scrumhalf Stef Ungerer was caught by Manie Libbok, who raced over to score.
That saw the Stormers take a 14-0 lead into the break, having impressed on both defence and attack in the opening 40 minutes.
Stormers 40: Tries: JD Schickerling, Manie Libbok, Sti Sithole, Warrick Gelant, Paul de Wet, Andre-Hugo Venter. Conversions: Manie Libbok (4). Jean-Luc du Plessis.
Sale Sharks 0
• The Bulls and the Sharks suffered defeats in their matches at the weekend. The Sharks crashed to a 20-8 loss at home to Stade Toulousain, while the Bulls were hammered 49-10 by another French side, Castres Olympique.
It was all France on Saturday as the Lions went down 28-5 to Montpellier in the second-tier Challenge Cup.
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