Stormers lock JD Shickerling has identified the lineout as a key facet of play which they will target when they host the Sharks in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) derby in Cape Town.

The battle to gain ascendancy in the lineouts and at scrum-time is expected to play a crucial role in the grander scheme of things between these heavyweights of the South African game.

Both sides head into the match with confidence high in their respective ranks after securing crucial victories in their previous matches.

Impressive victories

After a poor start to their URC campaign, the Stormers returned to winning ways courtesy of a 29-10 bonus-point home victory over the Lions last week while the Sharks edged out the Bulls 20-17 in Durban.

These teams met in the corresponding fixture in Durban just a month ago and although the Sharks claimed a narrow 21-15 win, the Stormers held the upper hand in the tight exchanges with their lineouts working seamlessly while they dominated the scrum exchanges.

The lineout has become one of the Stormers’ genuine strengths this season as they are the best ranked team in the URC in that department.

The men from the Cape have a 92% success rate in the lineouts so far this season as they have lost only eight balls out of 100 throw-ins, and made 16 steals which is the most in the competition.

Schickerling feels a solid all-round effort in the lineouts and dominance in the mauls will help the Stormers to influence the game and its outcome.

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‘I’m happy whenever we can get a steal’

“Something we try to work on really hard is to be accurate on both sides of the ball in defence and attack. I’m happy whenever we can get a steal; it’s always tough contesting,” said Schickerling.

“The maul is always a difficult thing to get right. It’s never perfect; you can’t paint a picture of what it will look like. When it does come together, it’s really nice, but it takes the whole forward pack to make it work. It can’t be one guy that creates the maul for us.

“It’s something we, as a team, have to work on, to get it right on the weekend. We don’t always get it right, but as long as we keep going and keep learning from what we do on the weekend.”

A hooker is crucial for any lineout to function properly and the Stormers’ first choice number two Springbok Joseph Dweba has struggled with his throw-ins at the set-piece in the past.

However, he has shown considerable improvement in that are and Shickerling said he has enjoyed working with Dweba.

“It’s awesome working with Joseph,” he added. “He’s always a guy that wants to push the limit, always wants to get better – not just by himself, but he wants to push the squad.

“It’s always nice working with Joseph. I back him a lot in the lineouts and stuff; we work well together.”

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/stormers-star-identifies-facet-of-play-which-will-be-crucial-against-the-sharks