John Dobson has noted that the DHL Stormers will have to stop La Rochelle from conserving energy during their big Champions Cup clash in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon. DYLAN JACK reports.
The Stormers take on the two-time defending European cup champions in their first game of the season at DHL Stadium under the sun in Cape Town.
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Both teams have gone full strength for the clash, looking to bounce back from opening-round defeats to Leicester Tigers and Leinster respectively.
During a press conference on Friday, Stormers coach Dobson said he is wary of the pure power that La Rochelle boasts in their pack, with 145kg Wallabies captain Will Skelton among the French side’s starting pack.
“They are arguably the world’s best club team at the moment, winning two Champions Cups in a row. It’s probably one of the biggest teams in world rugby in terms of its physical size,” Dobson said.
“They are fully loaded, they are desperate, they want to build a dynasty of European rugby and won’t be in a position to entertain a record of played two, lost two. They have brought in the full noise and are focused on this game. Maybe if they had won at home, this team would’ve looked different.
“How we’ve prepared is across these last two weeks, by not taking those guys overseas, making plans around them and trying to understand La Rochelle’s kicking game and power game.
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“Getting confidence of two weeks of preparation has been the plan, because I think, even though three of our players have won a World Cup, some would never have played a game of tomorrow’s level.
“If you look at the start of last week’s game between La Rochelle and Leinster, it resembled the South Africa versus Ireland pool game at the World Cup, it was so intense and physical.”
Having studied up on La Rochelle’s two European cup final wins over Leinster, Dobson said that it is important the Stormers halt the momentum in La Rochelle’s carries, while also finding a way to keep their pack running in the Cape Town heat.
“Watching those two European finals over the last couple of years against Leinster, you’ve got the beast against the machine. This really well-oiled, well-organised Leinster machine against an enormous La Rochelle team.
“What happened in both of those games is eventually, Leinster’s legs gave in because of the sheer power and relentless assault of that pack, with Well Skelton.
“We have to be able to sustain our physicality on defence. Another important area, without giving away too much, is the kicking game. They conserve energy sometimes, especially with their forwards parking in the middle of the field. So how you play around that or keep kicking is important.
“It’s their power game that we really have to understand and be on top of.”
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