If the Stormers pack can suck in Edinburgh’s defence on Friday night, the opportunity is there for the Capetonians’ backline to strike from out wide.
So says forwards coach Rito Hlungwani, who reckons that with a 6-2 bench split, the Stormers have the engine room to power on and create front-foot ball until the final whistle for the likes of Warrick Gelant and Leolin Zas.
Second-half tries from replacement forwards Sazi Sandi and Vernon Paulo, plus a late score from substitute scrumhalf Ezekiel Ngobeni on debut, helped seal a bonus-point 29-15 win for John Dobson’s men over Connacht in round one of the URC last week.
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“You mustn’t feel sorry for our forwards, these guys train hard for the worst-case scenario,” Hlungwani said in the build-up to Friday’s clash at Hive Stadium in Scotland.
“I don’t want for them to get into their heads that we must try to save their legs; we go 6-2, so these guys must get in there and work.
“You’re going to see that a lot [this season] – our forwards are going to go through the front door.
“I would just appreciate that if we carry hard as forwards and tighten up the [opposition] defence, the backs are taking the ball and manipulating the space out wide,” he added.
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“Our job is to make sure we come through the middle and tighten up the defence.
“It’s just getting the timing right of when to pull the ball out to the backs.”
Hlungwani was impressed by the Stormers’ maul ascendancy in Galway – the team made 63m to just 1m from Connacht. Dobson’s troops also got into the hosts’ 22 efficiently, but their accuracy in the red zone let them down and is a focus for Friday.
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“I enjoyed how we managed to get into the 22 in different ways – kicking, running and mauling, it’s just about improving that conversion rate,” he noted.
“[A maul] I feel is something that takes out of the psychology of the opposition pack, and it’s something we use for that … to instil a bit of fatigue into their legs.
“We’re quite happy that we managed to get that right.”
Some of the numbers that mattered from our @Vodacom #URC opening round encounter with Connacht. #inittogether pic.twitter.com/JE87vMCHeD
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) September 28, 2026
Photo: urcofficial_rsa/Instagram
The post ‘Our forwards go through the front door’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
If the Stormers pack can suck in Edinburgh’s defence on Friday night, the opportunity is there for the Capetonians’ backline to strike from out wide.
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