The last time the Stormers faced La Rochelle, they needed a last-second conversion by Manie Libbok to clinch a 21-20 victory in December.
That was a pool game, though, so they should expect La Rochelle to be much more ruthless in Saturday’s Champions Cup last-16 play-off at the Cape Town Stadium (4pm kick-off).
The Stormers struggled to get going in last week’s 13-7 United Rugby Championship win over Ulster, who were able to maintain possession for long periods of time in the first half and force their opponents to make several tackles.
Coach John Dobson said afterwards that his team “were so tired from defending” that they were unable to make good use of their possession when they were able to get a few turnovers themselves.
They showed great character to pull off a victory in the end, but it’s going to be a much more intense battle against a powerful La Rochelle outfit this weekend.
And the man they need to stop is openside flank Levani Botia if they hope to get their rhythm going on attack and avoid having to defend all the time.
Botia was so effective at the breakdowns against the Stormers in December that he was chosen as the player of the match, despite being on the losing side.
“Our breakdown, which is what I coach, is a concern. The official said Botia is one of the hardest flanks to referee, because it looks like he is off his feet but he is not,” Dobson said afterwards.
“They slowed our ball down. They got a couple of steals and penalties, which made it difficult for us to implement our plan because we didn’t get the fast breakdown ball. Also, the turnovers, that’s how they scored the two tries.”
The 35-year-old Fijian’s 1.82m, 103kg physique is not far off the Stormers’ own breakdown master Deon Fourie – who is 1.77m and 96kg – and he is not nicknamed “Demolition Man” for nothing, as he flies into contact with ball in hand to go with his massive defensive hits and breakdown turnovers.
Asked how the Stormers can stop Botia, defence coach Norman Laker said this week: “You choose Deon Fourie!
“If you target one guy, then there will be a hole for someone else. So, whoever plays opposite him has to make sure that he takes him out properly, and not give him the opportunity to get to his feet to get to the next one (breakdown).
“He is a world-class player – you are not going to just totally neutralise him. Like Deon Fourie, he will just find another manner and way to get to the next breakdown to slow your ball down or to make a nuisance of himself.
“So, we don’t put emphasis on one guy, but rather whoever is opposite him must handle him in order for the other guys to carry.”
Fourie, incidentally, missed the last two games against Edinburgh and Ulster with a rib injury he picked up in the 40-22 loss to the Bulls in Pretoria on March 2.
The 37-year-old Springbok loose forward, though, was seen at training this week in a photo posted on the Stormers’ social media accounts, so there is hope that he could make his return for what is a massive encounter for the Capetonians.
When asked if Fourie would play on Saturday, Laker only offered: “We don’t know that yet – I was just joking!”
Laker is a tough taskmaster, and likes to hand out doughnuts to the team if they don’t concede a try.
So, he wasn’t too happy about Ulster’s touchdown last weekend, but doesn’t feel the Stormers need to be too concerned with La Rochelle’s immense physicality on Saturday, which will be provided by world-class forwards such as Botia, Will Skelton, Uini Atonio and Gregory Alldritt, along with centre Jonathan Danty.
Winding up for some knock-out rugby at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
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“We are physical ourselves – our team climb in. We absorbed the pressure against Ulster in the first half, and could easily have been 12-0, 15-0, 18-0 behind at half-time,” Laker said.
“But we were only 7-0 behind because there is fight and character in the team. We came back well and imposed our physicality on them. Yes, La Rochelle are physical and carry the ball strongly, but so do we.
“They are a well-coached side, and the fact that they have Dillyn Leyds in their team, who has played for us – he has told them a little bit about our DNA and what to expect from us.
“We didn’t know anything about them (in the December game), apart from the guys from Super Rugby and Dillyn.
“Now we know what they are like as a team, and we will see on Saturday. It’s a round-of-16 game, and they have world-class players, but so do we. A lot of players have played Test matches, so it’s going to be quite important that the team that makes the least errors will most probably walk away with the win.”