By Ashfak Mohamed
I hope the Stormers take Schalk Burger's advice when they start their five-match Super 14 home stretch against the Cheetahs on Saturday.
Yes, we all know that, over the years, the Stormers have not managed to cope with the weight of expectation from their home fans.
So it was refreshing to hear Burger speak about the home leg at a sponsor launch last week. He said that the team should go out and "play good rugby" and that they had just needed to "back themselves a bit".
Schalk has got it exactly right. They must keep alive the spirit with which they played on their successful overseas tour, where they won three matches, grabbed 16 log points, and were really unlucky not to beat the Blues in Auckland.
There are many examples in this Stormers team of players who have improved hugely on tour after a forgettable start to the campaign. Peter Grant was struggling with his distribution, decision making and kicking to touch.
But coach Rassie Erasmus backed his man, and Grant has come good. He has started to attack the advantage line with strong running, while his passing and option taking has become more accurate.
Captain Jean de Villiers did not look sharp on attack at the start of the Super 14 after coming back from injury. But his scything break against the Western Force showed that he was regaining his old elusiveness, while his reading of the game and handling skills in scoring a trademark intercept try in the same match was the Jean de Villiers that we know.
Ricky Januarie has also got better as the tournament has gone on, while Schalk Brits has made a terrific impression as the starting hooker after Tiaan Liebenberg got injured.
Erasmus was understandably nervous during the three-game South African start to his stint as Stormers coach.
He was probably not fully prepared for the kind of focus and attention that rugby enjoys in Cape Town after coming from Bloemfontein, where there is one major newspaper and radio station. He was also at a new team with an unfamiliar group of players.
After the Stormers lost their first three matches, Erasmus said that it would be good to go on tour at that stage and that it would probably have been better if they had played their first three games outside South Africa. He felt it would have allowed the Stormers to bond together on tour and have less public attention.
That's all good and well, but now the Stormers have become used to each other as a team, so there should be no reason for them to go back into their cocoons.
The Stormers are in an excellent situation in the Super 14 at the moment. They are in eighth position on 18 points, but play the Hurricanes and Waratahs, the two teams above them, in the coming five-game stretch.
They also have a game in hand over the Chiefs and Force, who have five points more than the Stormers.
In addition, those teams ahead of the Stormers will also drop points over the coming weeks when they play against each other.
For example, the Force and the Waratahs play in Perth this weekend, while the Blues take on the Brumbies, who are one spot below the Stormers at the moment. The Bulls can also do the Stormers a huge favour if they can beat the Hurricanes at Loftus on Saturday.
So a semifinal is there for the taking for the Stormers. As the old saying goes, they have their destiny in their own hands.
In Schalk's words, they must "back themselves a bit" to finally bring some joy to the people who pack out Newlands almost week after week.
Two semifinals in 12 years is not good enough for a team with the stature of the Stormers. It's time to reward all those loyal fans.