Head coach John Dobson and captain Steven Kitshoff want the Stormers to continue playing with X-factor despite the challenge posed by Ulster’s forward-oriented game.

The Stormers are set to take on Ulster at Cape Town Stadium in a Vodacom United Rugby Championship match on Saturday afternoon.

Ulster are currently in second place on the URC table, 15 points above the Stormers, who have a game in hand over their opponents. Among the big names in Ulster’s squad is Bok No 8 Duane Vermeulen and Ireland lock Iain Henderson.

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The Stormers are going into the game on the back of two successive bonus-point wins over overseas teams, where they used homefield advantage to play with flair.

When asked about what the Stormers are anticipating on Saturday, Kitshoff said they have no doubt that Ulster will try and turn the game into an arm-wrestle.

“We’ve seen a few clips of them this week. They are a well-drilled side and are well-coached,” Kitshoff said in an online press conference on Friday. “They play that northern hemisphere style of rugby: a good contestable kicking game, good defensive structures, there are always 14 players on their feet. So it is our job to find space to create that magic and get the ball into space.

“It will become a bit of an arm-wrestle in certain areas of the field. But we are well prepared. We know they have some physicality and that it will be a bit of an arm-wrestle to get possession and territory in this game.”

The last time the Stormers faced this level of Irish side was when they took on Munster in Limerick in September 2021, during the team’s first foray into Europe.

Somewhat surprisingly in that match, considering they were without a few Springboks, the Stormers were 15-7 up at half-time, but then were ground down in the second half as Munster won 34-18.

When asked whether the Stormers’ first-half performance in that game had given them some inspiration for this weekend, Dobson explained that they took some key learnings away from how his side handled the second half.

“We were beaten at the end of that game. We have learned from how we got beaten. I thought the style of rugby we played in that first half was very similar to how we have been playing recently. That is our formula, there is no question.

“What we learned from that game is that we have to be much better and darker around maul defence. They ground us out with their maul. We also needed to deal with their contestable kicking game.  That game was a microcosm of what we do well and what we need to do better.”

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Dobson added that although he expects Ulster to keep things tight and deny the Stormers the space to attack, that won’t stop the home side from trying to impose their game on their opponents.

“Tomorrow is about us trying to play as much rugby as we want to play. Our pack has been doing really well, but we have the x-factor to play our game and impose our game. Playing our game and playing in some of the conditions that South African teams have hosted in is the reason why they are eight from eight in South African games.

“They have got a strong mauling game, we know that if we want to play our game, that’s one of the areas we need to address. They are a very patient team. It is something you have to deal with.

“We want to play our style, we just want to play it better.”

Photo: EJ Langner/Gallo Images