Fearless Stormers to tackle Leinster 'mountain'

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Unbeaten Leinster have never lost to the Stormers at home, but Rito Hlungwani and Paul de Villiers say the Cape outfit are "not fearful of the battle" that awaits them on Saturday.

The Stormers lost 31-22 to Racing 92 in Paris last Saturday to bow out of the Investec Champions Cup and will be eager to bounce back in the Vodacom URC clash at the Aviva Stadium this week.

In 10th place on the URC table with a 4-4 record, John Dobson's men face a huge test in Dublin against log-leaders Leinster, who have won all nine of their matches so far this season.

Leinster stars Dan Sheehan and James Lowe reportedly haven't travelled to Portugal with the rest of the Ireland Six Nations squad and are available for selection, while France prop Rabah Slimani is set to be released from the Les Bleus camp for Saturday's game.

"We're playing a very good team, they haven't lost this season. They've got a few boys coming back from injury, and they'll still have quite a bit of internationals," said assistant coach Hlungwani during a Stormers teleconference from the Irish capital on Tuesday. 

"I think the French prop hasn't gone to France and one or two [Ireland] internationals have stayed behind before they join the squad on Monday in Portugal. So we're expecting to play a very strong Leinster team.

"It would mean a lot for us to beat them but we understand we're playing a very good team that's unbeaten this year and that's been very dominant, especially playing at the Aviva.

"But we're coming into this game giving us the best opportunity to get what we want, which is a win. We're going to give it our all and try as hard as we can.

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"We're going to stay in the fight and hopefully get the result we want. As much as we understand we're playing a tough team, we’re not fearful of the battle or the mountain that awaits us – we're going to give it our all to get what we really want out of this."

Flanker De Villiers added: "It is a proper side we're playing, a good team but saying that, there's a couple of things we didn't get right this past weekend and it's more about focusing on ourselves and executing better.

"If we go in with the right mindset and right attitude and give it our all on the weekend, [a win] can mean a lot for us and our URC campaign, and give us a few points to take back home and build on that."

Despite flashes of their trademark grit and guile, the Stormers were undone against Racing by defensive lapses and more notably, a spluttering lineout.

"We're the first to admit that we were not good enough in the lineouts," Hlungwani said. "Racing had done their prep really well and gave us a few pictures which we hadn't seen and didn't adapt as well as we meant to.

"But we’ve moved on from it, learnt from it, and don't want to make the same mistakes again. We definitely need to be better in that area."

In team news, Hlungwani gave a brief update on fullback Warrick Gelant, who has been nursing a calf niggle: "Ja, Warrick's been training."  

Gelant joined fellow Springboks Manie Libbok, Deon Fourie and Ben-Jason Dixon in the stands at La Defense Arena, where hooker Joseph Dweba, No 8 Evan Roos and winger Suleiman Hartzenberg all left the field under an injury cloud.

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

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