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Cape Town - Stormers captain Siya Kolisi says they are determined to take their game to the next level in the upcoming Super Rugby campaign.
Having made some significant changes to their game last year, with fitness and skills being a big part of a more attacking mindset, this season the aim will be to build further on that approach.
It has been another tough pre-season, which Kolisi says is necessary in order to play the brand of rugby that fans want to see.
“We are very excited as a team, there have not been a lot of changes, we are just working harder on the things we wanted to do last year,” Kolisi told the Stormers’ official website.
“We want to keep improving every year, so it is something that the guys are very excited about.
“This new way of training we have worked harder, but we have got to play more rugby so it is easier for us to get to learn the plays and everything going forward.
“It is looking good and we are looking forward to the new season, we know we have to be even fitter to play the game we want to play.”
With six away games in their first nine matches it looks set to be a tough start to the season, but Kolisi says that his team-mates are not looking beyond their opening assignment against the Jaguares at Newlands on Saturday.
“We are going to take it game by game, we all know it is going to be tough, either way it doesn’t matter. We have got a tough draw, but we don’t look at it that way, it is going to be good for us.
“The most important thing for us is this coming game against the Jaguares. We have put all of our concentration on this game and we know that if we start off well and get a win at home we will go on tour with a positive mindset,” he added.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck echoed his captain’s view and explained that the squad will look to embrace the challenges they will face this season.
“We are amped to get going, we can’t wait for that first game. We will obviously be looking to win that game and go on tour with a lot of confidence,” Fleck said.
“We have been training pretty hard over this pre-season and we know how important a good start is for our campaign.
“Last year we made some changes and this year is about building our confidence and challenging to be one of the best teams in the competition.
“We want to fill the stadium here through the way we want to play the game, we started that last year already through an exciting brand and we are going to continue to do that this year,” the coach added.
