Steven Kitshoff, captain of the Stormers. Picture: Ryan Wilkisky, BackpagePix
Cape Town – How much anger and intensity the Stormers pitch up with in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final against Connacht is in their own hands.
That’s why captain Steven Kitshoff wants his team to lay down a marker early on in the match to prevent their opponents – who are heading to the Cape Town Stadium as underdogs – from getting their tails in the air.
Over 32,000 tickets have already been sold for the semi-final (4pm kick-off), with another vocal, capacity crowd expected to get behind the home side.
But Kitshoff has warned about the “dawg” (fighting spirit) in Connacht, who will be buoyed after an unexpected victory over Ulster in last weekend’s quarter-final in Belfast.
“They are a tough team and also have a good run of form of late, with a couple of good wins. If we allow them to have their tails up, it’s going to be a long day at the office,” Kitshoff said after training in Stellenbosch yesterday.
“We must get our stuff right quickly – not giving them any chances, and taking the game away from them. It’s going to be a long journey over the equator (for Connacht from Ireland), and there will be a lot of factors not in the travelling team’s favour.
“But there’s also the fact that they can pitch up and play a great game of rugby. We’ll have to be at our best to get the win.”
For Kitshoff, the game will have extra meaning as it could be his final URC match for the Stormers in front of his home crowd.
There is still an outside chance that they can host a final if they pick up a win on Saturday and Munster get the better of Leinster in their all-Irish semi-final, but the Stormers are treating this game as if it’s their captain’s swansong in front of The Faithful.
The chance of going back-to-back in the URC final is also on their minds.
“We want to make sure that we get through 80 minutes and that we play well. And hopefully, we will get a chance at the cup again. That is the motivation for the next two weeks,” the Springbok front-ranker said.
“When we saw Connacht beating Ulster last week, we knew that if we beat the Bulls, we would get a home semi-final. It does build a bit of pressure, because the public expects us to win.
“Re-watching the Connacht-Ulster game, we learned a lot. They’re a physical side, they’re threatening at the breakdown. They have a good pack of forwards that operate well.
“After we viewed the game on Monday, we saw a lot of threats. So, there is pressure on us because they are not expected to win … all the pressure is on us.”
Meanwhile, Stormers coach John Dobson said that flank Deon Fourie was 50/50 for the game, with his hamstring still a concern.
He was at training yesterday, but the Stormers will give him until the captain’s run to prove his fitness.
“It’s a tough one because there’s no tomorrow (if they lose the Connacht game). The semi-final is everything, but if we were to win (and head to the final) and Deon’s aspirations (with the Springboks) this year, the consequences are probably a tricky risk to take,” Dobson said.
“That is where our mind is at the moment. There’s no pressure on him … Come Friday, if he wants to play, that’s
We haven’t pulled him out yet, but made plans without him.
“He feels good, but I know there is a bit of worry. And he can’t play if there is worry.”
Dobson will also experiment with the thought of playing Fourie off the bench if push comes to shove and they need their talisman fetcher.
Lock Marvin Orie went for a scan yesterday on a shoulder injury, but he is set to play.
Injured wings Seabelo Senatla and Suleiman Hartzenberg will not feature again this season.
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