Director of Rugby John Dobson said at the team announcement that it will be key for his team to adapt to the conditions as quickly as possible in order to impose themselves on the game.
“We are playing on an artificial pitch under a closed roof in the European winter, which is quite a change from the summer conditions we enjoyed at home last week," Dobson said.
Eightman Evan Roos who will be starting against Racing 92 for the first time this year said “It’s something different, we had our captain’s run this morning and we said it’s weird, playing with the roof over your head and can’t see the sky."
“And it’s a 4G pitch, one of the better 4G pitches we’ve played on, the atmosphere, and the sound, we all know the French crowd, it’s going to be a good occasion tomorrow.”
John Dobson and Evan Roos have acknowledged the “massive task” that awaits the Stormers on Saturday, as they aim to qualify for the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup.
“We’ve got some exciting players coming into the mix this week and we are looking forward to seeing what sort of impact they make,” Dobson said.
“We’re confident but it’s a massive, massive, massive task. It’s a tough trip but we’re in as good a space as we could be in."
“It’s one of the things about the Champions Cup, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it and wouldn’t change anything in the world. We want to be in it and progress in the group, it’s just going to be a very tough game tomorrow.”
“We have to be realistic; we’re missing a couple of our playmakers so we’re going to have to fight. If we can fight properly and eke out a special result, it’ll be massive confidence for us."
“I’ll be focused on the performance, that we stand up and impose our game plan, and the result will come."
“We’re here to compete but people mustn’t be under any illusions as to the nature and the size of the beast that we’re playing tomorrow."
“It’s not to get sucked into a sort of a gunfight or a shootout, or try and entertain the good rugby fans of Paris, then we’ll get ourselves into trouble. The entertainment we’re going to provide is going to be on the scoreboard, hopefully."