After mourning the loss of their team manager two weeks ago, the Stormers are rightfully celebrating a return to the top of the United Rugby Championship table following their commanding 48-12 win over now-second-placed Glasgow Warriors on Saturday.
With just two away games left against Ulster and Cardiff, the Stormers have it in their hands to finish the regular season in first place for the first time.
Previously, their highest finish in the league phase was second, when they won the tournament in 2022.
‘A horrendous 10 days’
The Stormers were unstoppable at Cape Town Stadium, dominating the set-pieces, scoring six tries, and defending so well they conceded no points in the second half.
It was a “statement win” against a side that knocked them out of the quarter-finals in 2024 as well as last year, said prop Ntuthuko Mchunu, who scored two tries and earned man of the match.
Director of rugby John Dobson, seen in tears during a tribute to Christopher ‘Chippie’ Solomon before their painful 33-24 defeat to Connacht last week, was a much happier man.
“To put last week into context and how emotional it was… often in life, you go through a crisis and don’t realise how miserable it is while you’re in it. Now we have a bit of breathing space,” the Stormers boss said.
“Connacht is a good team, but we could’ve closed that game out. It was just a horrendous 10 days. However, I feel we closed the game out well against Glasgow.”
Captain Ruhan Nel likewise said the team responded well to the public’s expectation of a result.
“There was a feeling that we hadn’t performed to our potential following the death of uncle Chippie,” Nel said.
“We did not want to disappoint our fans. To have won in that manner makes for a very happy changing room. We owed ourselves that performance.”
Stormers to go on without Reinach
Springbok scrumhalf Cobus Reinach’s knee injury was the only damper on the day.
Dobson said the team’s first-choice scrumhalf had not been scanned yet, but things did not look good. It is believed Reinach will be out for a minimum of 11 weeks.
“I don’t see him coming back for a while. That is the truth,” Dobson added.
“I just hope it’s not that bad for the Springboks. It’s going to put us under a bit of pressure. I thought Cobus played his best game in a while.”
The Stormers still have to call on Stefan Ungerer, Imad Khan and Dewaldt Duvenage in the most important period of the campaign.
