Edinburgh will host the DHL Stormers on Saturday at 18:15 (SA Time) after a two-week tour to South Africa, and this will fuel their motivation to earn their first win of the season, especially after going down by only two points against Leinster at home in their season-opener.
The DHL Stormers, in turn, will be expecting a tougher encounter this week after having to show immense patience to beat Zebre Parma last week, and they will have the extra motivation of finishing off their tour on a high note, especially since points away from home have proven to be invaluable in the last few seasons.
Interestingly, Edinburgh have scored only eight more points than the Cape side with an extra game to their name, but the visitors will bank heavily on their effective defence to give them an edge with 68 points fewer conceded in the competition.
Adding to this, they have never suffered a defeat against Edinburgh in the competition, with DHL Stormers winning the last three matches between them and playing to a 20-20 draw, back in 2021.
Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt has admitted there was a “harsh review” following his team’s 55-21 defeat to the Emirates Lions in Round 3.
Everitt’s team trailed 48-0 at the break in Johannesburg, setting an unwanted record for the biggest ever half-time margin in league history.
They conceded no fewer than seven tries before the interval and eight in all as they went down to their third defeat in as many matches this season.
Everitt admitted his players felt embarrassed by their display against the Lions and said he had to get the team back on its feet again for the meeting with the Stormers.
“It was quite a harsh review after that performance - of letting down the club, our families, as well as our supporters - and it's for us to acknowledge that,” said the South African.
"But, at the same time, we've got to move forward and get back on the horse and beat the Stormers.”
“We know that last week’s performance was unacceptable, but we also know what went wrong for us. The DHL Stormers bring similar challenges to the Lions and Bulls, being hugely physical and fast in transition, but we know if we perform at our best, we’ll be able to get a result.”
He added: “It's not easy being a coach. There's pressure every week in this game.
“But we enjoy the challenges of making things right and I'm very confident this team's going to rebound this weekend.”
Director of Rugby John Dobson said that after another good training week, it is vital for his team to take some winning momentum into the upcoming home games against Munster and Glasgow Warriors.
"We know how tough it is to win here in Edinburgh, so it will take a big effort to back up our win in Italy last week. There are still a number of areas we would like to improve in, so this is a good opportunity for us to continue the upward trajectory in our game."
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mosese Tuipulotu, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Ben Muncaster, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Patrick Harrison, 1 Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Matt Currie.
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (c), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Brok Harris. Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Marcel Theunissen, 21 Willie Engelbrecht, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
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