It’s all falling into place this week for 'starting off fresh' Stormers

DHL Stormers director of rugby John Dobson has put the disappointment of defeat in Cardiff behind him as he works this week to prepare his team to start off again from scratch in the Vodacom URC Finals series and there are several reasons for him to be upbeat in his outlook.

One of them is the return to fitness of key players, with as many as six previously injured players training with the team at the High Performance Centre in Bellville as the Stormers gradually ratchet up the intensity of their preparation for the 30 May showdown with Cardiff in their quarterfinal at DHL Stadium.

Although the 22-16 loss in Cardiff last Friday meant that he and his team could not return home with what they were looking for from the two match tour that ended the league phase, meaning a top of the log finish, it does appear that certain jigsaw pieces are falling into place.

For a start, it was noticeable that both Dobson and regular captain Ruhan Nel, who has returned to fitness, put emphasis on the fact that however far they go from here in the competition, all their remaining games will be on grass. The only team that has a 4G home field, a surface the Stormers really struggle with, that they may play away in the playoffs is Glasgow, who will host the final should they win their quarterfinal and semifinal. However, Glasgow have confirmed that after their home quarterfinal against Connacht next Friday, they will not be using their home ground of Scotstoun again as a venue this season due to a clash with the Commonwealth Games.

It looks likely now that should Glasgow make the final they will be using Murrayfield, which has come back into the equation as a potential alternative because the Murrayfield staff believe they have enough time to facilitate a changeover from the concert venue it will be a couple of days before the event. Murrayfield is used as a popular big concert venue during the Scottish summer.

RELISH OPPORTUNITY TO PUT THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Not that Dobson or for that matter Nel will be looking that far ahead. They just acknowledged in two respective individual voice notes sent out during the course of this week where there is no game but in which the preparation for the quarterfinal starts in earnest that they both are looking forward to facing Cardiff on grass and relish such a quick opportunity to set the record straight after what happened at Cardiff Arms Park a few days ago.

“It’s playoff rugby now so we are starting fresh… We cannot wait to play them in Cape Town, we cannot wait to play them on grass, and we cannot wait to hopefully put the record straight,” said Dobson.

“It is not often you get a chance within two weeks to have another go at them,” he added.

Dobson’s view was endorsed by Nel.

“This is obviously what we have been working towards the entire season. We would obviously have liked to have a semifinal and final at home too, but a quarterfinal is the first step towards obviously trying to win the trophy,” said the experienced centre, who was also a key part of the Stormers’ title winning season of 2021/2022.

“Trust me, we were very disappointed not to win last week (and finish in the top two) but playing a quarterfinal in front of our own supporters is always special. It isn’t often you play a team in the last round of the round robin stages and then you get them again two weeks later in a quarterfinal so it is probably good as it gives us a chance to learn from our mistakes.

“It’s not a 4G pitch, we are comfortable playing on the grass (of DHL Stadium) so we are really looking forward to setting right what went wrong in Cardiff,” he added.

NEL READY FOR ACTION AND SEABELO TOO

Nel was a significant absentee from the team that drew in Ulster and then lost in Cardiff due to a calf injury but is back in full training and is confident of being ready to play in the quarterfinal.

“I am feeling really good. I trained with the boys for the whole week in Cardiff. Training is a bit more of a controlled environment so if there is something that pops up the medical staff can pull you and treat you whereas a game is a little bit less controlled, you don’t have as much control. Especially with a six/two split on the bench an injury can cause disruption (so it’s better not to risk it) but I am feeling really good and the load has been picking up so I am really excited to get going.”

Nel is not the only top player who is making a timely return from injury.

“We have players coming back on strength and that is really good (at this stage of the season),” said Dobson.

The coach mentioned Nel as well as Seabelo Senatla, the wing that he says the Stormers have really missed during his lengthy injury enforced absence, but one of the other players he’d refer to as coming back onto strength would be Ruan Ackermann, the looseforward who contributed to the Stormers’ 13-8 win over the Vodacom Bulls in January but has not been seen again since.

Ackermann has now recovered from his injury and although there might be question marks over his match fitness there is the potential for bleeding him back into action by playing him off the bench against Cardiff. Salmaan Moerat returned to action by playing off the bench against Cardiff and he was quite influential in the second half.

“It’s only really the long term injured, like Cobus Reinach, that we are missing so we feel we are in a good space heading into these playoffs,” said Dobson.