By Michael Vlismas.
In a bid to avoid any hint of complacency in their squad, the DHL Stormers have adopted a “Green Boots” theme as they open the defence of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship title at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on Saturday.
The champions begin their new campaign against Connacht with a strong desire to keep improving.
“We have a theme called ‘Green Boots’ which reminds us not to be complacent at all. We know as champions you might get complacent so we’re well aware of that and will make sure that doesn’t become our Achilles heels,” said DHL Stormers forwards coach, Rito Hlungwani.
“We are aware that as defending champions everybody will be after us, but our main focus is to just get better. We thought we had a good last season but there are a lot of things we can still improve on, and that’s our main focus for this season.”
Hlungwani also highlighted another motivation that will drive the DHL Stormers this season.
“As much as we are defending champions, we don’t feel like we’re the favourites. We still feel like we’ve got a lot to prove. We have this constant drive to prove that we are the best team. Whether it takes another two or three seasons to prove this, that’s going to be our mindset. That’s where our players’ mindset is at present – no complacency and let’s keep working hard to show everyone that we can be the best team in the world.”
The Danie Craven Stadium hosted its first Vodacom United Rugby Championship match last season when the DHL Stormers played Italian side Zebre there as part of the competitions “United We Rise” messaging, and the Stormers’ own desire to take the game into the community.