Roos bringing the energy for DHL Stormers

DHL Stormers loose forward Evan Roos says the focus this week is on maintaining the energy from the win against Edinburgh as they look ahead to the next challenge against Ulster on Saturday.

A seven-try win against the Scottish side saw the DHL Stormers move up to fifth place on the Vodacom URC standings and Roos is keen to see his team capitalise on the momentum created when Ulster visit DHL Stadium this weekend.

Roos scored two of those seven tries from mauls in the second half as the DHL Stormers set-piece fired.

“I’m happy we could play some exciting rugby that the DHL Stormers fans enjoy. We may have left a few tries out there but, all in all, it was a very good performance,” he said.

“Our scrums and lineouts functioned well and back to the standard where it needs to be, plus two maul tries and a scrum penalty to take out of the game is always a positive.

“It’s a good step in the right direction and I’m sure we can maintain this momentum and energy,” he said.

The 23-year-old linked up with Ben-Jason Dixon and Nama Xaba in a formidable loose trio, while the dynamic Hacjivah Dayimani featuring prominently off the bench. Roos praised the wealth of talent in the back-row corps.

“Nama and BJ are just two workhorses who never seem to get tired, and Hacjivah is playing phenomenal rugby at the moment,” he said.

“We still have guys like Marcel Theunissen and Willie Engelbrecht, and Deon Fourie, who are of the same calibre.

“We’ve created such good depth in the loose forwards at the DHL Stormers, which is definitely needed to compete in two top-tier competitions simultaneously.”

Roos is cautiously optimistic for the visit from Ulster in the Vodacom URC, which is closely followed next week by a rematch against La Rochelle in the Investec Champions Cup Last 16.

“If we can come away with another few wins it puts us in a really good space in the Vodacom URC and Investec Champions Cup,” he explained.

“However, Ulster are one of the top Irish sides and they’re going to be tough, and La Rochelle pushed us pretty close last time we faced them, so we’re taking it week by week and not getting too far ahead of ourselves.”

Roos is also excited for a potential reunion with Steven Kitshoff on Saturday.

Kitshoff, who captained the DHL Stormers to back-to-back Vodacom URC finals, is this week set to return to DHL Stadium for the first time since joining Ulster this season, and Roos can’t wait to face his former skipper.

“I’ve been thinking about it the past few weeks and it’s funny, I’ve never played against Kitsie,” he said. “I don’t know how I’m going to handle that, he was basically my ‘father’ when I first joined the DHL Stormers and looked after me very well.

“It’s going to be weird playing against him and I’ll try not to be in his channel for the entire game and let’s see if that works!

“But I’m just excited to see him again and I’m sure we’ll have a good beer in the changing room after the game and catch up,” he added.