Familiar faces, but Stormers won’t be distracted by Edinburgh’s returning Saffas in URC clash

The Stormers won’t be overly concerned with Edinburgh’s returning players or the prospect of their South African Scotsmen featuring at DHL Stadium on Saturday evening (7pm kick-off).

Instead, their focus has shifted to fine-tuning a few minor details in their own gameplan — particularly on attack — to give themselves the best chance of holding onto a Top-two spot in the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Winger Duhan van der Merwe and loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman could add some Six Nations firepower to the Edinburgh starting line-up, but according to Stormers inside centre Dan du Plessis, there won’t be any special focus on the duo or other returning players.

“I’ve come through the ranks with Duhan and played with him at SA U20 level. He’s a really good player, and then there are their two front-rowers who could possibly start,” Du Plessis said, referring to Scotland international loosehead Schoeman and Springbok No 1 Boan Venter.

“The clash at scrum time will also be a big one, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out. We’ve done some preparation on one or two players we expect to feature, but I think the main focus will be on ourselves this weekend.

“However, inside centre James Lang is one of their top ball carriers and we’ve seen his stats. He’s a really good player and I’ve faced him before, so I’m looking forward to that contest.”

According to Du Plessis, the Stormers will need to be more clinical against a dangerous Edinburgh side. After a heavy defeat to the Lions, the Scottish club will be eager to turn things around with a strong performance to keep their URC playoff hopes alive.