Stormers talent pool in focus against a Stade Rochelais with all hands on deck

The Stormers face a tall order in their Champions Cup round of 16 clash against back-to-back winners Stade Rochelais at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

Despite home ground advantage, director of rugby John Dobson admits toppling the competition's most accomplished and arguably most physically imposing team over the past three seasons will take some doing.

Stade Rochelais have contested the past three finals and the Stormers' boss has had to take a realistic view of where his team is at present.

“It's going to be a tough one. If we lose, at least we can say we were one-one with the double defending champions,” Dobson said in reference to their nail-biting win over the same team last December.

The Stormers have the daunting prospect of facing Stade Rochelais this week while Leinster are likely to lie in wait should they progress to the quarterfinals. Leinster are at home to Leicester Tigers in their round of 16 clash on Saturday evening.

Dobson does not want to be caught in the land of fantasy. “This season, if we win it would be 'Harry Potter' if we think we will be at the sharp end of the competition.”

What Saturday's match will undoubtedly present Dobson with, especially now he officially has a wider role to play in the franchise, is a reality check of where the Stormers are.

It's not as if he is writing off his own team. The Stormers have a proud home record and he said it is “a massive advantage”.

“There is such a big difference home and away now between South Africa and Europe. Look at Lyon coming to Pretoria at 1,400m above sea level, or us hypothetically going to play in rain at Stade Rochelais against that monster pack — it becomes a different sport.

“I'd say we'll be competitive here but we are still way off going to Stade Rochelais and winning there.”

The Stormers' boss is loath to read too much into their narrow 21-20 win over Stade Rochelais in December. You got the sense they didn't have all their sails bulging when they set course for Cape Town last time and they did not have all hands on deck.

“They were confident of beating us and didn't have everyone, so they were a bit relaxed,” recalled Dobson. “Everything was new to them and they had not been to Cape Town. Gregory Aldritt is probably the best No 8 in the world, certainly in terms of work rate, he wasn't here.

“They know everything about us now and will be smarting from that last-minute loss. They were one TMO decision away from winning by two scores,” said Dobson about a decision that saw a try chalked off after visiting prop Joel Sclavi was deemed to have made head contact in a tackle.

Dobson said the showdown will be like a Test match. Stade Rochelais, having played in the past three finals, have lost just one knock-out match in their past 12 in the Champions Cup.

Their win record in the Top 14 and the Champions Cup may only be about 50% this season but they've displayed champion qualities when they needed to.

The Stormers have also shown admirable fighting qualities.

Both teams will go into the game missing key personnel in the front row but elsewhere they are spoilt for choice.

Dobson, though, has the uneasy feeling that his talent pool isn't deep enough. “This is a tough one for us. It will be a helluva game.”