STORMERS OUT TO MAKE SURE THEIR ‘HOUSE IS IN ORDER’ AGAINST SHARKS

STORMERS defence coach Norman Laker is working hard behind the scenes at the High Performance centre in Bellville to make sure that their “house is in order” when the Sharks come to town this weekend

The Stormers return to United Rugby Championship action at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday after back-to-back weeks in the Champions Cup where they’ve qualified for the last 16 after beating Leicester Tigers 39-26 at the weekend.

Before their clash against Leicester, the Kapenaars were humiliated 61-10 by Harlequins in England – a scoreline that would not have sat well with stingy Laker.

It was put to him yesterday that there were some holes in his midfield in those two games, with fairly young combinations doing duty on those days.

Against Quins, Damian Willemse started at inside centre, sandwiched by flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Suleiman Hartzenberg.

Willemse got injured in that clash, while Ruhan Nel pulled midway through training last Wednesday, leaving Bishops trio Mngomezulu, Hartzenberg and Jonathan Roche to face the English.

Of fielding young combinations and the holes that now need to be plugged, Laker wysed: “The 10-12 and 13 that played against Harlequins and that played against Leicester [were young combinations].

“That [match against Harlequins] was Suleiman’s first start of the season after he played at 13 against Glasgow in the quarter-final last year.

“This past weekend was his second start at 13…

“The last time they [Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Roche and Hartzenberg] might have played together was at Bishops… all three were at Bishops.”

The Stormers are still unbeaten in the URC this year, with Laker saying of what they can expect from their coastal visitors this weekend: “I told the team this morning that we have to focus on ourselves, purely because of those collapses that happened in the midfield over the past few weeks and also a few other areas in my department – defence.

“So I’m not worried about what the Sharks will bring. I know what they are capable of, I know the world-class rugby players they can bring, but our focus is on ourselves and to make sure our house is in order, will be competitive come Saturday.”