Hlungwani: Razzle-dazzle Stormers won’t abandon identity in physical Ulster URC clash

Enjoyed the Stormers’ running-rugby festival last weekend?

Well, assistant coach Rito Hlungwani says Cape fans can expect more of the same in Friday’s clash against Ulster in Belfast (9.35pm start).

Despite having lost more games than they have won, the Stormers are somehow still in playoff contention to the United Rugby Championship.

They are on 33 points from 13 matches, with six victories and seven defeats, which have put them in eighth position on a congested log that sees John Dobson’s team trailing fifth-placed Cardiff by just two points.

The Stormers played some dazzling rugby in holding off the Scarlets 29-17 in Llanelli last Saturday, with André-Hugo Venter’s vital late try securing the bonus point.

But now they need to back it up against a difficult Ulster outfit who are also caught up in the log-jam in ninth spot on 32 points, with the same win-loss record as their South African opponents.

The injection of fit-again flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and the thrilling skills of fullback Warrick Gelant contributed to a memorable display, with Ben Loader’s opening effort and Deon Fourie’s five-pointer possibly the best two of an impressive four touchdowns.

“What’s extremely important to us is to remain true to our identity, and that’s the type of rugby we want to play,” forwards coach Rito Hlungwani said from Belfast on Tuesday.

“We understand that there will be times when the passes might not stick, or things might not work out, or it might look like we are trying too hard.

“But the one thing we don’t want to do is move away from our style of play. We are happy that it clicked a little bit last week, and we would like to see more.

“It’s not necessarily the fact that we changed anything. We are just trying to stay true to our identity. That’s how we train – we’ve seen that picture so many times, and we are just very happy that it came through during a game.”

One of the stand-out performers was lock Ruben van Heerden, who produced a series of terrific offloads, in addition to his hard yards at close quarters.

But the pack will need to roll up their sleeves once more in order to set the likes of Gelant, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Damian Willemse free at the Kingspan Stadium on Friday.

“I don’t want to claim it! He (Van Heerden) works on it (the offloads) himself, and he’s gotten good at it,” former Western Province lock Hlungwani said.

“We always say if you go and spend time practising a skill, we don’t have a problem with you trying it in a game.

“It’s extremely important that you keep winning your lineout ball, and your scrum ball.

“It won’t always be perfect – we’ve had our challenges – but the way we play, we keep working on it.

“Even with the offloads, it starts with the positive ball-carry. You can’t offload if you’re not going forward – and that’s a big part of it.

“You have to set the right platform in order to play that kind of rugby.

“Ulster are probably very different to the other Irish sides. They play more of a physical game, and with a massive pack of forwards.

“So, it’s going to be high-impact, high-collision type of game. That’s probably one of their points of difference, if not their main point of difference.

“We are expecting a very physical, tough match, and they are one of those guys who work really hard to get into your 22, and they are very patient.

“They want to dominate you physically – grind, grind, grind – until they get a result.”