Stormers brace for ‘Test match’ against wounded Glasgow
· Citizen
Stormers attack coach Dawie Snyman says his side are expecting it to be as hard as it gets when they play Glasgow Warriors on Saturday afternoon.
The teams meet at Cape Town Stadium, with Glasgow top of the United Rugby Championship log and just four points ahead of second-placed Stormers. This is the third-last match before the play-offs.
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While the Stormers are hurting from their 33-24 defeat to Connacht at home last weekend, which came on the back of mourning the passing of their team manager, Christopher ‘Chippie’ Solomon, Glasgow suffered their biggest defeat of the season.
The 2023/24 winners were thrashed 54-12 by the Lions at Ellis Park. Before that, no side had put more than 33 points against Glasgow this season.
Stormers, Glasgow vie for top spot
Glasgow’s South African coach Franco Smith was gracious in defeat, praising the Lions players and coaching staff.
Snyman likewise said the result was more due to the quality of the Lions than any weaknesses in Glasgow.
However, the Stormers attack coach said they were under no illusion that the top Scottish side would front up at Cape Town Stadium.
“Glasgow are doing really well this season, and they’re top of the log at the moment,” Snyman said.
“We see this as a big clash which probably will decide whether we can push for ending up top of the log at the end of the season.”
He said the Stormers could not divert any attention to their final away matches against Ulster and Cardiff. Everything now was aimed at getting it right against Glasgow.
“The tour will look after itself. If we want to truly give ourselves a chance to finish in the top four, this one is really important for us.”
Good preparation for play-offs
Playing against any top URC side was like an international game, Snyman believed, where the quality of rugby was at its best and there were no margins for error.
“We’re playing the number one seed, who also did well in the Champions Cup (reaching the quarter-finals).
“It’s a good club with great players, a lot of internationals in their side. So it’s a great test for us. And it’s games you actually want to play this part of the season where it’s going to prepare you for the play-off games.”
Head-to-head, Glasgow have won the last five encounters between the teams, four of which were in Scotland.
In their last encounter, Glasgow capitalised on a poor Stormers defence to win their URC quarter-final 36-18 at Scotstoun Stadium last May.