Stormers well aware of potential perils against Zebre

The Stormers may go into Sunday's United Rugby Championship (URC) clash with winless Zebre as firm favourites but they will have a heightened sense of awareness.

Coach John Dobson knows the clash against the competition's bottom side represents the opportunity for his team to fill their boots and potentially close the gap on conference front runners the Sharks.

He also knows the clash in Stellenbosch may provide fertile ground for an upset.

“People say you should beat Zebre, you're in a different stadium, after a break, so there are some banana peels but I think the team is mature enough to deal with this,” Dobson said.

The coach pointed to Zebre's virtues, of which there aren't many. “Zebre makes teams uncomfortable. They were unlucky not to beat the top Welsh side away last week. They are physical and disruptive,” cautioned the coach.

Despite their defeat away to Connacht in their last match, Dobson believes they are on the right track. The match in Galway necessitated a diversion in game plan and his team will revert to what they did best on home soil.

Connacht defeat an aberration 

He sees the defeat against Connacht as an aberration rather than something that now needs close interrogation and advocated an up-tempo approach on Sunday. “It is going to be a hot day in Stellenbosch on Sunday. We want to develop our own game.

“Against Connacht we had to move away from our normal game. We had a great plan that served us well in the derbies but had to go away. We had to have different plans for both halves against Connacht but we want to get back and develop over the next five weeks. It is really important to us.”

What will help in that regard is the return to fitness of utility back Warrick Gelant and centre Dan du Plessis who are both expected to take their place on Sunday.

“Dan has concussion protocols he needs to go through,” said Dobson. “Warrick is looking great. We still have a high-speed session to come which will be a big test for the players.

I'm anticipating they will be back.”

The Stormers will be eyeing nothing short of a bonus point win on Sunday. They trail the Sharks by two log points while the Bulls are one point behind. “It is really important in that respect,” affirmed Dobson.