Captain Ruhan Nel warns Stormers of complacency against Dragons

2026-03-21 - 07:30

Stormers captain Ruhan Nel has warned his team of being complacent against a Dragons team sitting second bottom of the United Rugby Championship (URC) log, ahead of their clash at the Cape Town Stadium on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 3pm). The Stormers by contrast are up near the top of the log in a massive battle for a top four place to secure a home playoff, and thus need a full house of points against the Welsh side to aid them in achieving their goal. But despite many seeing this match as a walkover, against a side the Stormers have never lost against, Nel explained that the team wouldn’t take anything for granted, especially after halting a three match losing streak with a top win over the Bulls last weekend. Biggest danger “I think the biggest danger is complacency. You can easily fall into the trap of looking at the Bulls side and telling yourself if you get over that hurdle, you should be able to take a Dragons team that’s sitting 15th on the log,” said Nel. “I think you can become very comfortable and pleased with yourself, and then once those micro-details start lacking, it’s just a snowball effect. But I must say, I think this week we’ve actually put the Bulls behind us pretty quickly. “Those (SA) derbies, the only thing you can take out of that is a win. There’s so much emotion that goes into that game, so we parked that pretty quickly. I thought our desperation at Loftus was almost like it was at the beginning of the season. “Once you start drifting away from those things that make you good, before you know it, you can actually miss the mark quite a bit. “They’re (Dragons) probably the strongest defensive side since the new year. They’ve got some big ball runners and guys who love to tackle. Flyhalf Tinus de Beer has a very smart, educated boot on him, and they like to have a crack with ball in hand as well.” Returned to action Nel only returned to action with the Stormers last weekend after a significant spell out with injury, but successfully got through 80 minutes against the Bulls, and this weekend he is joined by his regular centre partner Dan du Plessis, who is also back from a long-term injury. “I was just really happy to be back on the field, especially in a big derby like that. I was nervous going into the week because you don’t want to let the team down. To get through 80 minutes at Loftus and get the win, after a long rehab, makes all the hard work feel worth it,” said Nel. “We’ve (Nel and Du Plessis) played together for years, so there’s a real understanding there. You read each other’s body language and you’re in sync, especially defensively. It’s very exciting to have him back.”