By facing the Stormers, the Toulonnais encounter an unusual situation: crossing paths with a team that they have never faced in their history. And for good reason: by integrating the Champions Cup in 2022, the Cape Town players have simply never fallen into the RCT group. What to look forward to at the idea of hanging a new name on their hunting board? Except that before dreaming of it, the Toulonnais had already had to prepare for a match against an opponent they could only see on TV. And still very few, because apart from the staff, few players spend their weekends in front of the URC (1). But then, what do these Stormers look like?
First, to talk about their form, the teammates of Joseph Dweba (former Bordeaux hooker) are not having a perfect start to the season. Thirteenth in their championship, the South Africans have won two of their first six matches of the season.
“A team looking for a duel”
Starving? Nothing to fool the people of Toulon, however. “It’s a collective that relies on big individuals, particularly on the attack triangle,” told us Antoine Frisch, who crossed swords with the Stormers several times when he played for Munster. “Then it's a dense team, which hurts on impact, which seeks the duel. In defense, they like to go strong in the center of the field, which forces you to make decisions under pressure. Then, in attack, their forwards offer direct play and their three-quarters have legs.”.
Those of international scrum half Herschel Jantjies (substitute today) and Warrick Gelant in particular, all enhanced by the magician Mannie Libbok at the opening. The promise of a level match “international” to paraphrase the Toulon staff. “It’s a team that resembles the Springboks in its strategydetailed Pierre Mignoni. In particular, they have a defensive rush which can pose problems, and an efficient conquest. It’s a very big match that awaits us.”
1. United Rugby Championship, the championship of the Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Italian and South African provinces.
