Captain Ruhan Nel praises Stormers' 'internal drive to make each other proud'

“We owed ourselves that performance.”

That was the immediate reaction of Stormers captain Ruhan Nel after a convincing six-try, 48-12 United Rugby Championship (URC) thumping of the Glasgow Warriors in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.

It was a massive response following an emotional loss to Connacht last weekend and the criticism the team received in its wake. With the victory, they claimed top spot on the URC log, booting Glasgow down to second place.

According to Nel, the victory will stand them in good stead as they head on tour for their final two games, looking to seal another home quarter-final. In the last two editions of the URC, they were forced to travel to Scotstoun Stadium and were knocked out by the Warriors at that stage.

“There was an internal drive to make each other proud, and this win will put more energy into our tanks,” Nel said.

“We were under pressure; we felt the external scrutiny and the public wanting a response. There was a feeling that we hadn’t performed to our potential following the death of uncle Chippie (Solomon). We did not want to disappoint our fans. To have won in that manner makes for a very happy changing room.”

Director of Rugby John Dobson said the squad had endured a horrendous ten days following the death of Solomon. However, after the funeral on Tuesday, the team switched into ‘game mode’ and found the freedom to prepare effectively.

“To put last week into context and how emotional it was — often in life, you go through a crisis and don’t realise how miserable it is while you’re in it. Now we have a bit of breathing space,” Dobson said.

“Connacht is a good team, but we could’ve closed that game out. It was just a horrendous ten days. However, I feel we closed the game out well against Glasgow.

“We played directly; I think we had to. It is play-off rugby. Last week, in our desperation, we played poor-quality ball. We were a bit more conservative in putting pressure on Glasgow, and we knew we could do it with our set piece. That was effective.”