Stormers nudging toward SA Shield after 5/5 sequence

Sport24 chief writer

Top South African bragging rights at the end of the United Rugby Championship’s ordinary season beckon ever more invitingly for the Stormers.

The Capetonians, fresh off their desperately narrow but priceless 19-17 home victory over the Bulls on Saturday, enter a welcome rest week for all the SA teams boasting a 100 percent win record from a demanding stretch of five matches in as many weeks.

All on home turf – including one at temporary headquarters in Stellenbosch – John Dobson’s charges have seen off, in order, Zebre, Cardiff, Ulster, Ospreys and now their great highveld-based rivals.

They are the only side from our shores to have earned a 5/5 record in the period, although all the others went 4/5, which goes a long way to explaining why the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls are all hugely in the running for quarter-final berths.

Not only did Steven Kitshoff and company advance to fifth overall on the 18-team table after their latest triumph, but if they can maintain their hot streak for three more rounds they ought to clinch the SA Shield.

They have a one-point lead over the Sharks (sixth overall) and four on the Bulls, who lie eighth.

The Stormers also have the distinction of ending their quartet of league derbies against their two major domestic rivals unbeaten, although there was one draw against the fellow-coastal outfit.

All three contending local franchises (the Lions can finally be considered goners now) have two home fixtures and one overseas still to negotiate, which makes every remaining game of critical importance.

Adding to the tension is that both the Sharks and Stormers – in that order – have home dates with the log-leading Leinster powerhouse, beginning with the KwaZulu-Natalians meeting them on 23