Stormers to repeat 2022 heroics?
SPOTLIGHT: The Stormers find themselves in fairly unfamiliar territory on the United Rugby Championship table in 13th place with two wins from five attempts.
I say 'fairly unfamiliar' because it's not the first time the Cape side found itself in the bottom half of the table.
However, previously they made it to the knockout stage by the end of the season.
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The Stormers are statistically the worst overseas touring outfit in the URC, with six wins, three draws and 13 losses on foreign soil throughout four seasons.
This includes their first-ever away quarterfinal against defending champions Glasgow Warriors this past season.
What assisted the Stormers in reaching consecutive URC Finals in the first two years of the revamped competition's existence, was their record against their fellow South African franchises.
The Stormers suffered a home loss to the Lions in December 2021 and were not given a sniff of a chance to lift the URC trophy that very season.
But this is where it all changed - during the month-and-a-half long break before their next match against the Bulls in Pretoria, the Stormers managed to find a game model that suited the way they wanted to play.
The Stormers rocked up to Loftus Versveld against a more fancied Bulls side - who regularly beat them during the Currie Cup, Super Rugby Unlocked and Rainbow Cup competitions that were played during the global pandemic.
In the final moments of the match, Paul de Wet scored the late match-winning try after a Seabelo Senatla break to start their local dominance.
The only blemish on that unbeaten record is a 22-all draw against the Sharks in Durban a week later, and since it's been a reign of terror over their local rivals.
That was until the Bulls stopped the bleeding in Pretoria when they downed the Stormers by 40-22 after losing seven successive matches against their arch-rivals.
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The 22-40 loss ended a 15-game streak over local sides and this weekend the Sharks could also record their first win over their coastal rivals when they host them in Durban.
The Sharks are tipped as the hot favourites, and despite the Capetonians' dominance over them, it's not hard to see why.
Despite having a poor 2023/4 URC season, the Durbanites appeared to have turned the corner by winning the EPCR Challenge Cup and Currie Cup in 2024.
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The Stormers appeared to have lost their mojo that made them a championship-winning side in 2022 and got them to a second consecutive Final in 2023.
They had their proud home record of 21 consecutive wins (in all competitions) broken by Munster during the regular season before losing to Munster again in the Final a few weeks later.
They suffered a shock loss to the Ospreys in Cape Town last season and the demands of playing in the Champions Cup do stretch the resources and risk more injuries.
It's no excuse, as all other teams deal with the same model, but the Stormers are currently without their first and second-choice looshead prop, with veteran Brok Harris still packing down on both sides at the age of 39 years.
Captain and lock Salmaan Moerat, veteran Deon Fourie, Ali Vermaak and exciting youngsters Evan Roos and Ben-Jason Dixon are all out injured and there's no certainty regarding the future of former captain and double world champion Steven Kitshoff who recently underwent neck fusion surgery.
It also doesn't help their cause that they lost the likes of Hacjivah Dayimani who can play tight and loose and Nama Xaba who plays much like Fourie to the ball in their prime years.
The Stormers are still very much capable of turning their season around, with the South African sides yet to determine which one is the best as they have not faced each other yet this season.
Another reign of terror over local rivals will most likely not be on the cards again, but their road to redemption - much as the case was in early 2022 starts this weekend away from home after a long break to turn their season around and be in contention for the title again by the business end of the season.
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