Momentum key for DHL Stormers
Although they have already secured a home Vodacom Super Rugby quarterfinal, the DHL Stormers will be going all-out to gain as much momentum as possible in their clash with the Southern Kings at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
The full-house of 10 log points the DHL Stormers claimed on their two-match tour of Australia with bonus-point wins against the Rebels and the Force saw them claim top honours in the Africa Conference One.
They will be presented with their conference trophy after the match against the Southern Kings at DHL Newlands on Saturday, but before the celebrations can begin there is some hard work to be done.
Head Coach Robbie Fleck said that while star locks Eben Etezebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit will not be in action as per the Springbok resting plan, he will pick his strongest available side in an effort to take some meaningful momentum into the knock-out phase of the competition.
“With Pieter-Steph du Toit and Eben Etzebeth it is part of the Bok resting plan, but everyone else who is fit and able will be up for selection this week.
“We want to select the strongest side possible going into this weekend. For us it is all about continuing the momentum from the tour and we want to get that momentum going again this weekend,” he said.
Fleck explained that he has learned from the past when the team surrendered key momentum heading into the play-offs in the interests of player management.
“From past campaigns where we have won the conference prior to the last game, we have gone into that game with a plan to rest some players and it hasn’t worked in our favour.
“Hopefully we learning from those lessons in the past, so we want to play our strongest side possible this weekend and play at an intensity of quarterfinals, semifinals and finals,” he explained.
For Fleck, this week in the build-up to the Southern Kings game is vital in terms of perparing the squad for the quarterfinal and ensuring that they are at their best in the knock-out phase of the competition.
“What we have learned from the past is that this week is more crucial than the quarterfinal week in the sense of our preparation.
“If we take our foot off the pedal this week then we are not going to do well next week. The lessons are that this week is extremely crucial in terms of our preparations and our attitude,” he said.
Fleck has challenged his team to lift the intensity and find an extra gear against the Southern Kings to finish the regular season with a morale-boosting win.
“Momentum is everything for us, we need to find an intensity that we haven’t had this season, so it is actually an extremely crucial game for us.
“We want to play at another level this weekend, we want to play at a different intensity that we haven’t had this season yet and that has got to be the key focus for us.
“If there is any eye on the quarterfinals it is about the intensity we play with this weekend.
“The Kings are a side that has been in the mix with most teams at half-time, so we need to repect the opposition, but it is not about them, it is about us and our preparation,” he added.
