Unbeaten in nine United Rugby Championship matches heading into Saturday’s semifinal against Ulster, the Stormers know their good run will mean niks if they go down to the Irish.
With home ground advantage in the 3pm match at Cape Town Stadium, coach John Dobson has preached that “this is the biggest match of the season” on a weekly basis.
But those words can’t be any truer this week, as they cross swords with Duane Vermeulen and his teammates for the right to either play the Bulls or Leinster, who square off in Dublin tonight at 8.35pm, in the final.
To make it a perfect run of 10 and book their place in that final Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff says they’ll need an all-out 80-minute performance – not just a fast start as we’ve come to expect from the team over the season.
He explains: “When it comes to playoff games, you need an 80 minute performance. Both teams are going to be fired up and try to get a hot start.
“Whether we get a fast start or not, the game of rugby is always where one team gets momentum and the other team fights to swing things their way.
“We might not have a great start as per usual – but we have to stick to our plan or stick to our structure.
“We understand the importance of the game and amount of effort that goes into the season. This is the biggest game of the season.
“We understand how important it is and we understand how hard we need to work to get us over the line.”
Ulster, meanwhile, had to Cape Town with an appeltjie to skil with the Stormers after having a last-minute try in their 23-20 round-robin defeat to the Capetonians disallowed.
After claiming they had “won that game”, Ulster coach Dan MacFarland will take the field with a point to prove against Dobson’s Stormers.
The Stormers, meanwhile, will name their team for the clash today.