Stormers riding the wave to finish strong in Paris
01/13/2025 08:31 AM
Assistant coach Dawie Snyman said the Stormers, fresh off a huge result in Cape Town, have set their sights on beating Racing 92 on Saturday to clinch a last 16 spot in the Investec Champions Cup.
Following a dominant victory over Sale Sharks last week at Cape Town Stadium, where the Stormers scored six tries, John Dobson's men are gearing up to face Racing 92 in Paris in the final round of EPCR pool fixtures.
The Stormers triumphed 40-0 – which marked their first win in the competition this season – that saw them climb to fourth place in Pool 4 on five points – tied with Harlequins and Sale.
It's possible that a Stormers loss at Paris La Defense Arena this week ejects them from all EPCR playoff contention, but if Quins, Sale and Racing lose, the Cape contenders could finish third in the pool.
Speaking during a Stormers conference on Monday, Snyman highlighted the value of building momentum while emphasising the importance of just winning over securing a bonus point in the French capital.
"We've turned a bit of a corner in the momentum of our squad and the way we play," he told reporters. "We've obviously learnt lessons playing not just overseas but different surfaces – playing at Stade Francais last year, Connacht away on a 4G pitch – there's small little things you pick up and need to get right in the week.
"We want to do well overseas and tour well, that's going to be important for us as a squad going forward. We really want to dive into this one and are really motivated to play well on Saturday.
"The first thing is to get the win so we can't really get ahead of ourselves by trying to score four tries and get a bonus point," he added. "We need to do the right things to get the victory firstly, and then take it from there."
It was a do-or-die game against Sale for the Stormers, who suffered defeats in their opening two matches of their 2024-25 EPCR campaign, yet had it not been for a few missed opportunities they could have registered an even bigger victory.
Snyman is understandably pleased with the commanding win for the Capetonians, who will board the plane for France on Wednesday.
"There were one or two games earlier in the season where we had those opportunities in the 22 and we didn't convert, and we could feel [against Sale] we were building scoreboard pressure in the game," he said.
"And once we got into those zones the forwards did a really good job to either create space or score themselves."
Top 14 giants Racing 92 are ninth in the French top flight and haven't won any of their last five matches, yet Snyman cautioned against writing off the challenge from Stuart Lancaster's charges.
"They're a big physical side so we need to make sure we front up there in those areas. [Stuart] Lancaster is a really good coach and will definitely have plans against us so we need to be sharp and adapt," he said.
"They also have great individuals, plenty of French [international] players and a few Fijians, so there's always threats around the park and we need to be sharp."
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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