Stormers have yet to show all their cards on attack

Given that the DHL Stormers have managed to accumulate 14 points out of a possible 15 from their three games in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship it can be taken as an ominous warning for future opponents that they feel there is still a lot of improving to do.

The Cape franchise were disappointing with the way they exited last season’s edition of the URC in the quarterfinal round against Glasgow Warriors but that miserable Friday night at The Scotstoun might not have been in vain for them as it is clear they have acted on some of the learnings from that experience.

One of the most disturbing things for Stormers fans would have been how their team was out-muscled in that game, and it might have been the cue for the development of the impressive physicality they have brought into the new season.

Forwards coach Rito Hlungwani should be delighted with the way his off-season work on the driving maul has paid off, with openside flank Paul de Villiers saying at a press conference on Tuesday that his mates were complaining that he was stealing all the hooker’s tries.

Two clean sheets and three wins 😏🌩️

The DHL Stormers go into week four at the top of the #VURC table 🔝#SSRugby pic.twitter.com/udz9bRkXcu

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 13, 2025

Defence coach Norman Laker should also be delighted after watching the off-season “tweaks to the defensive system” pay off with two games where the opposition try tally was kept to nil, although the poor house might be beckoning for him if he persists with his policy of rewarding the players for that by buying them confectionary.

A LOT MORE TO BE DELIVERED


But while you’d think that after scoring 95 points to 10 across three rounds, and picking up two try scoring bonus points out of a possible three, the attack coach Dawie Snyman would also be basking in it, and that perception would be wrong.

It’s not as if he is in a fit of depression, for changes have been made that require gradual rather than overnight development, but he agrees with the perception that more could have been delivered through the attacking game than has been the case.

“From an attack point of view we have still got a bit to show. Tactically some of the things we have worked on during the off-season have worked for us but it has just been a few games and there is still a lot left for us to show on attack,” said Snyman from Parma where the Stormers play Zebre on Saturday.

Given they are a team never short of bling, and have often been criticised for overplaying, it sounded weird to hear Snyman being questioned on the “more conservative” approach the Stormers have adopted. But nonetheless the question was asked, and Snyman didn’t deny it’s validity.

‘It is just to get the balance right, some of it is tactical and some is about playing to strengths in a particular situation,” he said.

“Every day you are presented with different scenarios and challenges and we have worked hard on finding ways that we can handle that. We see what the defence presents and then we find ways to exploit it.”

MORE MEASURED START IS PAYING OFF

The Stormers have paid for trying to hit their sixes too early in their innings at the start of previous seasons, and in almost every year the URC has been played you can go back and look at games the Stormers have sacrificed early on due to gifting their opponents with high risk and high reward rugby.

So it makes sense if indeed the Stormers are a tad more controlled in their approach this time around, a bit like Liverpool were when Andre Slot arrived to replace Jurgen Klopp as their manager. But that does not mean the Stormers have changed their DNA and this early part of the season can be seen as a foundation that could produce a lot of dazzle later.

“There is still a lot in the tank, a lot of stuff (we’ve worked on) but haven’t shown. There have been no big changes to our approach, just some aspects of our game that we have worked on. We won’t be going away from our DNA. We know what the players can do and we will always be looking to play into space.”

Snyman praised the forwards for the “slow poison” that had enabled the Stormers to grind down their opponents in all three games played so far.

“We have previously had poor starts to the season and that puts pressure on you from an early stage,” said the Stormers attack coach.

“It is nice to have momentum and energy after those performances and also know we haven’t played at our optimum and still have a lot left in the tank. We are happy with the wins but we are also not patting ourselves on the back and thinking that we have arrived. We are a team that continually wants to improve and develop.

“The games have had their own momentum and a lot of our play has been tactical, with the forwards doing a good job in taking out the opposition legs. And then we have a great bench coming on that brings energy. When you play quality sides there are times you need to grind it out.”

BOK DUO INTRODUCED TO NEW PLANS

One of the reasons the Stormers didn’t score quite as many tries as perhaps their dominance warranted in their 34-0 win over the Scarlets in Wales last week was that there were key figures in returning Springboks Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Damian Willemse being reintroduced to a team they had not played for since June.

“It wasn’t just the first time in a few months that we had seen Damian and Sacha, it was also the first time they had seen us. They didn’t have much exposure to us and what we have worked on during the off-season until they joined us from the final game of the Rugby Championship in London.

“They had to fit into new plans and all things considered they did well. They will get better and better once they get more used to it,” he added.

Now how’s that for a warning to future opponents if you consider how gifted both those players are.

Both players are expected to play in Saturday’s fourth round game against Zebre in Parma but Feinberg-Mngomezulu, after his massive involvement in the latter stages of the Boks’ Championship win, will return home for the final week of the tour, when the Stormers play Benetton, to rest up ahead of the end of year tour to France, UK and Ireland.