Cape Town – The sun has shone again in Cape Town – although not for long – since the Stormers went down to Munster in the United Rugby Championship final.
But there has also been heavy rain in between, and the sombre-looking grey clouds over the Mother City probably perfectly encapsulate the mood that the Stormers players, coaches and fans may have been in since Saturday’s 19-14 defeat at Cape Town Stadium.
Life must go on, though, and for the Cape franchise as a whole, that comes in the shape of Western Province’s Currie Cup clash against Griquas in Kimberley on Friday (3pm kickoff).
Province, who went down 34-12 to the Lions at Athlone Stadium last Friday, are involved in a tense battle for the semi-finals. They are in fourth position on the standings on 31 points, along with the Lions and Blue Bulls, but their superior points difference puts them ahead of the two Gauteng sides.
Griquas are seventh on 30, so the Northern Cape outfit must produce a victory on Friday to stay alive in the race for the semis.
“The Currie Cup has always been a big motivation for us as a union. We haven’t done well there over the last two or three seasons. So, it’s something we knew was going to be tough, with the URC going on and a lot of the young guys playing against senior okes and gaining valuable experience, which is great for us as a squad and union,” WP attack coach Dawie Snyman said.
“Now it’s almost (a case of) the next job. It was quite grim over the last two days – after the loss (in the URC final) – but we have to get over it and the best way to do it is to get onto the field again and play again.
“Those wins against the Lions away and Bulls away – which are tough sides – just showed the quality and the depth in the squad.
“We’ve been working together to make sure we gel and players understand their roles, so that the transition is also a little bit easier.”
Griquas nearly caused an upset last weekend, drawing 29-29 with the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, and have the cohesion to knock over WP.
The Capetonians, though, will be calling on a few Stormers squad members who didn’t see much action over the last few weeks of the URC to bolster their Currie Cup squad this weekend.
“We’ve assessed a few of the guys over the last few days, just in terms of availability. There are also one or two players, after the URC, who came to us, and said they are keen to play and keen to get stuck in,” Snyman said.
“Some of the guys didn’t get a lot of game time at the back-end of the season as it was the playoffs, so we will integrate one or two of them over the weekend – especially in areas where we have some injuries in the Currie Cup, where we need some reinforcements.
“It’s always a challenge going up to Kimberley.”
@AshfakMohamed
