The Stormers feel they have nothing to prove to anyone except themselves in the return North versus South derby against the Bulls on Saturday in Pretoria.
After losing by one point just over a month ago in Cape Town, the inaugural United Rugby Championship winners trek to Loftus Versfeld (5pm start) to try and avenge that first-ever loss at their home ground against their bitter rivals.
The Jake White-coached side are on a two-match winning streak against the Cape outfit after breaking their duck in the URC last year at Loftus. They will look to continue their recent dominance over their visitors in the capital city.
According to Stormers scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer, the team galvanised themselves after a tough couple of weeks.
After three losses in the URC, the Capetonians need a win away from home to restart their fight for a playoff spot in the tournament. They currently occupy 10th place on the URC log with only the top eight making the knockouts.
“It’s not a thing of getting revenge,” Ungerer said this week.
“It’s more the case of proving to ourselves what we can do and not (proving something) to anyone else. We want to put up a good performance for the team, the club, and our fans.
“The loss last time out will be a bit of a motivation, but this is a completely new game at a different venue, with different faces.
“We will look to take some things out of that game. We also won’t dwell too much on it.
“There were some good passages of play in the second half, showing that when we go forward and keep the ball, we can finish off teams.”
The battle for the #VURC South African Shield is getting intense 😤👊
We have two local derbies this weekend which could have a big say on who claims the bragging rights 😏🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/EDB9Z6UFgS
Apart from finishing the opportunities they create on attack, the Stormers also want to begin matches at a better tempo. They’ve been struggling with that part of their game over the last couple of clashes, and must be better at kick-off on Saturday.
Ungerer, who started in the 33-32 loss in Cape Town, is set to don the scrumhalf jersey again when director of rugby John Dobson names his match-day squad on Friday.
He will be tasked with keeping Bulls scrumhalf Embrose Papier in check, and providing quality possession from the breakdown to his backline on attack.
How is your team looking compared to last season? 👀@Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/QfImTXiH02
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“I’ve been playing against Embrose for a good couple of years, and he has been a proper threat across the URC and Champions Cup for the last few of seasons. He’s a good nine and controls the game for them. A lot of their attack runs through him and the flyhalf, whether it’s Willie (le Roux) or Boeta (Chamberlain).
“We must keep an eye on him, but not all of our attention so that we overmark him and it opens up space for someone else.”