The Stormers kick off their United Rugby Championship title defence in Stellenbosch on Saturday, and coach John Dobson is loving it.
With their first home match of the season moved away from Cape Town Stadium because of Justin Bieber’s now-cancelled tour of South Africa, the Stormers were forced to skuif their kampie to the Danie Craven Stadium for the visit from Ireland’s Connacht.
Dobson, though, is taking the shift in venues in his stride and says: “I think it’s something we’re going to enjoy. We are looking forward to the surface, I think the field suits us. We can scrum, we can play a fast-paced game…
“Also, this is, like Paarl, one of the heartlands of South African rugby, so it’s going to be a good occasion. Different, but we loved it last year.”
Saturday’s opponents Connacht, incidentally, is the last team to beat the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship.
The Irishmen beat the Stormers 19-17 in February, with the Stormers going on an 11-match unbeaten that culminated in them beating the Bulls 18-13 in the final since that defeat.
Getting to grips with the racetrack in Stellenbosch. Will you be there to watch us take our first steps this season?
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) September 21, 2022
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Having found their mojo since then, Dobson says they will continue to jol met die ball.
He says: “What we found last year was a game mould that suits us and we will stick to how we play the game.
⛰️ Kicking things off in Stellenbosch
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) September 21, 2022
⛈️ Reunited with the Faithful
🍻 Free beers for the students
🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 Celebrating Heritage Day
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“The personal we brought in Alapati [Leiua], Blomme [Clayton Blommetjies] - he is a counterattacking fullback like Warrick [Gelant, who left for France].
“Alapati is a game-breaker like Damian [Willemse, who is injured] and Rikus [Pretorius, who left for Japan].
“There are one-two areas we’ve evolved a bit… but not changing, we are who we are.”