Edinburgh are a better team than Ellis Park result suggests, says Stormers’ Snyman

2026-03-27 - 16:10

The Stormers will be ready for a fired up and reinforced Edinburgh when the teams clash in the United Rugby Championship (URC) at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night (kick-off 7pm). It has been a difficult season for Edinburgh so far, with them languishing at 13th on the log, having won four games against nine losses, and they head into the match off the back of a heavy 54-17 loss to the Lions at Ellis Park. But they will be bolstered by the return of some of their Scottish internationals for the Stormers match, and after a strong Six Nations, those players could bring in a much needed positive injection as they try to turn their season around. Dangerous Edinburgh Stormers attack coach Dawie Snyman is well aware of how dangerous some of those players are, like Scottish wing Darcy Graham, and South Africa born Scottish internationals Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe, who are all expected to be in the match 23. “You can’t really read into the Ellis Park result. We all know going up there is not easy, especially for them coming from a winter scenario to altitude and things are quite fast. Obviously the Lions had a good start and played well,” explained Snyman. “But we know this Edinburgh side here will be tough on Saturday night. They have very good players. Guys like Darcy Graham and Pierre Schoeman put France to the sword a few weeks ago. “They will bring in energy and leadership into the team. Against a team like Edinburgh, if you don’t finish those opportunities, or if you don’t show up, they are a team that can put you under pressure. They understand that Test match mentality as well and it’s going to be a tough challenge for us.” Well placed The Stormers are well placed at second on the URC log, but have a number of teams chasing just behind them that can reel them in if they slip up. They also received a timely reminder of that over the past weekend from lowly Dragons, who sit 15th on the log, after they were pushed all the way before grinding out a 29-21 win. Stormers centre Dan du Plessis, who made his return from a long injury layoff over against the Dragons, admitted that they have to be more clinical against the Scottish side this weekend. “At least we are making the opportunities, which is better than not making them. So the talk the whole week from the coaches has been about us being more clinical, especially against a good Edinburgh side,” said Du Plessis.