Stormers back in hunt for URC playoff spot with Edinburgh win

CAPE TOWN - The race for playoff spots in the United Rugby Championship is hotting up. The Stormers control their own fate and have the slight advantage of playing their next three matches at home.

The Stormers kicked off their push for the URC playoffs with a bang, beating Edinburgh by 43-21 in a commanding display in Cape Town. Suleiman Hartzenberg scored a hat-trick, with Evan Roos and Leolin Zass both bagging braces, while the bonus point was already wrapped up before half-time.

Stormers head coach John Dobson: "I think what's frustrating is how many tries we've left on the table two weeks ago in Pretoria and it's probably double that today. But that's not a technical thng, it's not something that we've got wrong with our shape - on;e a TMO decision, one's knock-on, one's a dropped pass, so it's a mixture... I'd rather have this than not being able to create."

Dobson admitted that the poor tour at the beginning of the season put the team on the back foot, creating must-win matches in the backend of the season.

"We got a little bit skewed by the poor tour, so we came back here with a must-win every game sort of things, whereas last season we had a really nice rotation and we knew we could get 65% to 70% percent and we did it with these three games, so we know at La Rochelle we have to be at absolute full metal jacket. This week we're actually going to give a couple of other guys opportunities, so next week's going to be somewhere in between."

Captain, Salmaan Moerat, was thrilled with the result and the overall performance.

"I'm very thrilled. I think we showed some very good glimpses. Coming off the back of last week's performance there were a lot of things we weren't really happy about, I think our attitude was one of them, I think there was a great shift tonight, and I think the guys really pitched up."

The Stormers skipper hopes the impressive performance can be a catalyst for things to come.

"With any team, once you get that confidence, it can be a catalyst for greater things to come. I think the most important thing now is to be consistent and to nail our details down and to be consistent with the areas of the game that make us tick and I think it's going to be important for us to get back to the drawing board on Monday."

The men from the Cape leapfrogged Edinburgh on the log, moving into fifth place after the Sharks beat Ulster and the Lions beat Connacht.