The Stormers have fired up Western Province to clear the cobwebs and break a seven-game losing streak in the Currie Cup, reports DEVIN HERMANUS.
John Dobson’s men are training with Province before resuming their home playoff bid in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship against Ospreys on Saturday, 21 May in Wales.
WP haven’t won since round one in the Currie Cup and are six points above the Lions at the foot of the table, with ill-discipline an achilles heel for the Capetonians.
Jerome Paarwater’s charges have copped 11 yellow cards in eight matches, and had three players sent off against the Vodacom Bulls.
With four fixtures left before the semi-finals, WP travel to Nelspruit on Friday to battle the Pumas, who won 37-11 at Cape Town Stadium on 23 March, and are buoyed by last week’s 20-10 win over the Sharks.
Asked what Province must fix to win Friday’s rematch, assistant coach Kabamba Floors said: “Our discipline; a yellow card here and there, playing with 14 men … we need 15 men on the pitch and those are the things we’ve really needed to address, especially after the Pumas [defeat].
READ: Stormers have ‘unfair’ advantage
“Going forward, we just need to get a few Ws on the board, and turn those losing streaks around.
“As a coach, you’re also hurt when the results aren’t going your way, but I’ve learned a lot in terms of helping the players improve themselves, and I’ll grow as a coach in the process.”
Flank Marcel Theunissen added: “We did a good analysis on the Sharks [vs Pumas] game … and we’ve been chatting about our Pumas loss, and that motivates us.
“Our discipline has been an issue, and our concentration, and we need to address that in order to turn things around.
“We’ve been training a bit with the Stormers and that’s helped us a lot. Still think there’s a chance [for WP to qualify for the semis] if we win all our games … but think we need to play for some pride and for the jersey, and that motivates us, too.”
Theunissen has made seven appearances for the Stormers in 2021-22, and the 22-year-old wants to make his case to Dobson for more game time with strong performances in the blue-and-white hoops.
“For every player it’s a dream to play on another level, and every player wants to be playing in the URC and that’s a motivation as well, and hopefully Dobbo sees that,” he said.
