STORMERS forwards coach Rito Hlungwani says their pack of forwards must put in the hard yards in what will be a physical battle against Ulster on Friday.
Only then will their gevaarlike backline be able to strut their stuff against their Irish hosts in the United Rugby Championship clash at the Kingspan Stadium .
The Stormers are still in playoff contention despite losing seven games and find themselves in eighth place on the standings with 33 points.
And Hlungwani reckons to strengthen their chances of making the playoffs, they have to win the battle up front against Ulster.
He explains: “It’s extremely important that you keep winning your lineout ball, and your scrum ball.
“It won’t always be perfect – we’ve had our challenges – but the way we play, we keep working on it.
“Even with the offloads, it starts with the positive ball-carry. You can’t offload if you’re not going forward – and that’s a big part of it.
“You have to set the right platform in order to play that kind of rugby.
“Ulster are probably very different to the other Irish sides. They play more of a physical game, and with a massive pack of forwards.
“So, it’s going to be high-impact, high-collision type of game. That’s probably one of their points of difference, if not their main point of difference.
“We are expecting a very physical, tough match, and they are one of those guys who work really hard to get into your 22, and they are very patient.
“They want to dominate you physically – grind, grind, grind – until they get a result.”
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Warrick Gelant put in a geharde display in the Kapenaars’ win against Scarlets at the weekend and Hlungwani believes fans can expect more of the same on Friday.
He adds: “What’s extremely important to us is to remain true to our identity, and that’s the type of rugby we want to play.
“We understand that there will be times when the passes might not stick, or things might not work out, or it might look like we are trying too hard.
“But the one thing we don’t want to do is move away from our style of play. We are happy that it clicked a little bit last week, and we would like to see more…”