DHL Stormers boss John Dobson is targeting a top six finish in the BKT URC as he welcomes back X-Factor players for the crucial run-in to the play-offs.
Dobson’s team got their season back on track with a 19-16 win away to the high-flying Vodacom Bulls at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld in the last round.
As a result, although they are down in 12th place in the table, they are just a point off the all important top eight.
They now head for Europe and road trips to the Scarlets and Ulster Rugby before concluding their regular season campaign by hosting Connacht Rugby, Benetton Rugby, Dragons RFC and Cardiff Rugby.
“We go on tour now and then we have got a nice four-game home run,” said head coach Dobson.
“If we can get one win on tour and 18 out of 20 points from the home games, that should put us properly in the mix. It will put us up to sixth if other results go as planned.
“You don’t really want to finish eighth because you are then going to the Aviva to play a fully loaded Leinster.
“Sixth could see us play the Sharks or the Bulls which would be fantastic for us.
“We want all the teams competing with us to lose all the time. You concede that Leinster, Glasgow, Bulls and Sharks are going to finish above us, so let them go.
“But let Munster, Scarlets, Cardiff, Edinburgh and all these guys lose.
“I’m just sorry we aren’t going to get a home quarter-final. I think it is too late for that unfortunately. That’s extremely unlikely.
“But we should be in the top eight and the play-offs and hopefully good enough to go pretty far. Anything can happen after that.”
The Stormers have fit-again Springboks Damian Willemse and Sacha Feinburg-Mngomezulu available once more for the journey up north, along with fellow star back Suleiman Hartzenburg and second row Connor Evans.
“Having these players back is absolutely immense. That’s going to be a massive boost for our game model,” said Dobson.
“It’s fantastic to welcome back such key players and they are all keen to make a big impression. It will boost morale and allow us to be more attacking.”
First up, on Saturday, it’s a visit to the Scarlets who are on the same points tally, with a trip to Belfast to face Ulster to follow next week.
“The technical focus will be around our transition game, our counter-attack – given the return of the X-factor players – and our power in the front row,” said Dobson.
“The Scarlets are a team that play quite attractive rugby, so it should be quite an open game.”
The Round 12 win over the Bulls was a real battle in the wet in Pretoria, with Wandisile Simalane scoring the Stormers’ try and fly-half Jurie Matthee landing five shots at goal.
Reflecting on a result which ended a three-match losing run, Dobson said: “There was a sense of relief, cheerfulness and excitement.
“It’s a special place to win, Loftus. We just fought and fought and fought for every scrap. That was the most pleasing thing – our fight. There were no lost causes.
“We got the chance to sing the team song. We hadn’t sung it for quite a few weeks. It was a very different dressing room. It’s a much happier camp now. I think we have reason to be excited.”
Adding his thoughts, centre Simalane said: “We are looking forward to going on tour. We are aware of where we stand on the log and it’s going to be a very important trip for us over the next two weeks. We are well prepped and ready to take on the Scarlets and Ulster.
“It’s pretty cold up there, but it’s always fun to go on tour and chill around with the boys and spend more time together than we do in Cape Town.”
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