The Stormers are ready to empty the tank when they take on Glasgow Warriors in a make-or-break United Rugby Championship quarterfinal on Friday, coach John Dobson says.
Four consecutive bonus point wins at home against Connacht, Benetton, the Dragons and Cardiff enabled the Stormers to roar into what promises to be a brutal battle at Scotstoun Stadium.
Dobson said injuries had helped the Stormers blood a crop of talented young players and that had helped increase depth ahead of the playoffs.
“We are absolutely primed, we have had some great players come through and we have some key players back now,” he said.
“A week’s break between matches has been really valuable for us and with a full week of preparation in Glasgow, we will be ready to empty the tank at Scotstoun.
“We have been really impressed with the fight the team has shown all season and one thing we can guarantee our supporters is that they will see that in the play-offs as well.
“With everything we’ve been through, this has been our toughest season yet.
“And that’s why I feel reaching this point is one of our best accomplishments.
“This team never disappoints me.”
Dobson said his squad had responded magnificently to a number of challenges thrown at them during a testing campaign.
“If you’d said to me at the beginning of the season, and everything that could go wrong, I’d be very pleased to be where we are right now,” he said.
“It started out as our first season with some stability in our new ownership.
“But then a whole set of other challenges came our way. We’ve had a knife to our throats this season. It’s been nuts. And yet, the team has responded as it always does.
“We’d built our empire around players like Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe, but now we have Vernon Matongo and Sazi Sandi, which is great for our programme.
“The rugby we produced in our last four home games, which we had to win, and the style of rugby we still played was incredible.
“We went up to Loftus Versfeld with none of our biggest stars and managed to win there. In terms of our long-term goals, that’s all very positive,” he said.
“The reality is that this is a team that has become comfortable in the discomfort.
“A team that knows how to fight and actually seems to relish it.
“Given the momentum we’ve got now and the belief in this group, I’m expecting us to be extremely competitive against Glasgow.
“It’s a massive reset and refocus for us now. We start from scratch and we’ve got to be at the final.”
Loose forward Marcel Theunissen said rival teams had become wary of the Stormers’ fighting qualities.
“A game like this offers a good chance for us to make a statement,” he said.
“But when it comes to a team like Glasgow, you can’t highlight one aspect of their game as being a weakness, because they have an overall very good gameplan.
“You can’t be off on a single aspect of the game against them. We’ve been talking about this the whole week.
“Whether it is in the scrums, mauls, breakdown or open play, whatever it is, you must front up in every aspect.”
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