The DHL Stormers beat Zebre by almost 50 points in Stellenbosch last season, but the defending champs anticipate a stiffer challenge when the Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams meet in Parma on Saturday.

In what was arguably their most clinical attacking performance of the inaugural season, the Stormers put Zebre to the sword in a 55-7 victory at the Danie Craven Stadium.

NUMBERS THAT MATTER: Zebre vs DHL Stormers

However, Zebre appear to be a very different prospect this season.

The Italian outfit are still looking for their first win of the campaign, but can count themselves unlucky, having pushed Irish giants Leinster all the way in a 33-29 loss, before giving the Sharks a scare with a terrific second-half comeback effort in a game that ended up going 42-37 to the Durban side.

Boosted by new recruits such as former Lions flank MJ Pelser and ex-Bulls fullback Richard Kriel, Zebre are expected to pose a far different challenge to the Stormers when the two teams meet this weekend.

“They are a team playing with a lot of confidence,” Stormers defence coach Norman Laker said. “They brought in a few players, like Richard Kriel.  They have a new scrumhalf [Chris Cook] who controls the game really well for them.

“They are a decent team. They have a new attack coach, Dave Williams. He is a South African who used to work at the Sharks and also coached at Bath.

“They did really well against Leinster and came close to beating the Sharks. I think they could have taken the Sharks. They have found a way of playing that really suits them. Dave Williams has had a big impact on how they are playing with ball in hand. He is a very good coach.

“It’s definitely not a team we will be underestimating. They had very close games against Leinster and the Sharks. They are a well-coached team, so we are looking forward to the game.”

Laker said the Stormers have put last season’s big win in Stellenbosch to bed and are more focused on fixing what went wrong in the hard-fought come-from-behind win over Edinburgh last weekend.

“I was chatting with a few of the players last night and I said that in that game in Stellenbosch, it was just a very good performance from us. We were very clinical. We were at our best and controlled the game really well.

“We know what to expect from the game on Saturday. It’s going to be a tight match. It was good to get that comeback against Edinburgh. We are focusing on ourselves and correcting the mistakes we made in the previous match.”

Photo: EJ Langner/Gallo Images