Assistant coach Rito Hlungwani said the DHL Stormers won’t need to use last week’s Champions Cup loss as extra motivation when they face La Rochelle on Saturday.
The Stormers’ failure to secure a log point against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road on Sunday has put the Capetonians under the cosh to topple the title-holders this week, in their first match at Cape Town Stadium since the 2022-23 Vodacom URC final.
As back-to-back SA Shield winners in the URC, John Dobson’s charges are up against the two-time European champions, who boast a wealth of talent including former Stormers speedsters Dillyn Leyds and Raymond Rhule.
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Speaking in a Stormers conference in the build up to the first rugby XVs match on the refurbished pitch at Cape Town Stadium, Hlungwani told reporters: “The one thing that’s common in the Champions Cup is that every team tries to win its home games, it’s no secret.
“There’s no pressure, we just want to do the best we can, hopefully we’ll be able to execute our plan well and get the result we’re really looking for.
“At the end of the day, we wanted to be able to compete in both games and I thought we competed really well the other day. And because we’ve left a fresh group of players [at home], we believe we’ll compete really well this coming weekend.”
The forwards coach added: “Dobbo showed us a nice little slide which was a goal we had two-and-a-half, three years ago, that we would play against the best in the world at DHL Stadium.
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“Now it’s happening, we’re playing against the defending champions of the Champions Cup – it’s a dream we’ve had to bring those types of games to the Stormers faithful to make Cape Town smile.”
Hlungwani was impressed with how a youthful Stormers side handled themselves in England, yet poured cold water on the suggestion that the youngsters have changed the coaches’ selection plan for Saturday.
“Before the guys left, we already had a plan for the December games. We’re very happy with the guys that put their hands up [against Leicester], but they’re well aware of what the plan is, going forward to La Rochelle, the Bulls and the Sharks,” he said.
“That plan from a coaching point of view is going to stay the same, but some guys will play, some guys were not in the plan to play this weekend.”
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