Cape Town - The Stormers are still hurting from their loss against Exeter Chiefs at the weekend, but they know that fretting about what could have been will only distract them from a big task that lies ahead in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The Cape side were dumped out of the Champions Cup by Exeter in a performance that was difficult for their coach John Dobson to put into words.
And although they would like to dissect the game down to the last second, kick and ruck, they can’t waste too much time on the 42-17 defeat as the URC reaches the end of the regular season over the next two weekends.
Saturday’s match-up with Munster (6.15pm kickoff) provides the team with a shot at redemption. And on top of that, they can also take another step closer to securing second place on the URC standings.
The defending champions have already secured a home quarter-final, and if they are to progress to the final four, a home semi-final and not having to travel to Europe can only be advantageous.
Ulster, in third place on the log, are hot on the Stormers’ heels and are only two points behind them.
The Champions Cup exit came with some good and bad news for the Capetonians.
The good news is that they can now solely focus on defending their URC title with no travel in economy class to Europe on the cards for the next couple of weeks.
Then, two influential players in Springbok No 8 Evan Roos and speedy wing Leolin Zas could make their return to the playing field.
Both recently joined on-field training sessions after recovering from injuries.
The bad news is that Exeter exposed a fair few vulnerabilities in the Stormers’ armour, especially with Deon Fourie missing and no other player having a significant impact at the ruck, particularly on defence.
Roos should add some firepower among the Stormers’ forwards, who struggled to make an impact at the breakdown against the Chiefs.
“He could come off the bench or play in the Currie Cup,” Dobson said about Roos.
“That’s really important to us as we go into the sharp end of the competition. Having Zassie and Evan back next week will be good for us. They were probably two of our best players last season.”
Dobson will have to think hard about the composition of his loose trio in the absence of Fourie, as the combination chosen for the Exeter game failed to make the desired impact.
The Stormers had Marcel Theunissen at No 8, with Ben-Jason Dixon and Junior Pokomela on the flanks.
Pokomela and Theunissen can hunt turnovers on the ground, but failed to slow the ball down in the rucks at Sandy Park.
Loose forward Hacjivah Dayimani made an impact off the bench, that could see him being restored to the starting team on Saturday.
But Dobson will have to decide if it’s on the side of the scrum or from the back at No 8.
Fourie will also be out for a few weeks with a cheekbone injury, and will only make his return during the URC play-offs.
@LeightonK