Stormers vs La Rochelle 2025 arrives as a homecoming charged with momentum and meaning, the unbeaten Stormers finally back in South Africa after a season-defining stretch on the road. A seven match winning run, with five tough trips away from home and a Champions Cup opener clinched with late composure in Bayonne, has shaped a team that looks both hardened and hungry.
The return to Gqeberha carries an emotional weight that the group is not hiding. John Dobson has spoken with pride about a travelling side that found resolve in hostile venues and with equal enthusiasm about the chance to reconnect with faithful supporters. The director of rugby framed the stakes with refreshing honesty, a victory against La Rochelle would put the Stormers on the brink of Champions Cup playoff qualification after the disappointment of missing out last season.
We have to win our home game next week against La Rochelle. If we can get that right we will probably get into the EPCR playoffs, and that will be special having missed out last year.
The heartbeat of this surge was heard in Bayonne. The Stormers led 16 to 5 at halftime, then weathered turmoil when Adre Smith saw red and Leolin Zas received a yellow, which forced them to play 30 minutes with 14 men. Bayonne surged ahead 17 to 16, yet the visitors summoned 10 points in the final five minutes to close out a 26 to 17 win that spoke to a steelier identity and composure in the clutch. Dobson called it a special comeback, the kind that tightens bonds in a squad and convinces players they can solve problems under duress.
The broader canvas of the season tells a similar story. The Stormers opened the United Rugby Championship with home wins against Leinster and Ospreys. They then packed their bags and kept winning, against Scarlets, Zebre and Benetton, before following the November international break with a statement victory over Munster in Limerick. They sit top of the URC log as the only unbeaten side in the competition, a record that has fed both belief and expectation.
The matchday fabric for La Rochelle speaks to intent. Dobson has named a run on side with nine Springboks, blending recent national duty with domestic cohesion. Sacha Feinberg Mngomezulu and Cobus Reinach team up at halfback, Ruhan Nel returns to partner Jonathan Roche in midfield, Warrick Gelant’s counter attacking threat anchors the backfield and Leolin Zas brings finishing edge on the wing alongside Dylan Maart.
The pack looks as purposeful as it is balanced. Ntuthuko Mchunu, André Hugo Venter and Neethling Fouché form a front row that can challenge any set piece. JD Schickerling joins captain Salmaan Moerat in the engine room, a combination of lineout reach and work rate. In the back row Evan Roos resumes his barnstorming role at the base with Ben Jason Dixon and the impressive Paul de Villiers on the flanks, an athletic trio with carrying punch and defensive appetite.
Depth has been a defining thread in the unbeaten run, and the bench underlines it again. JJ Kotzé covers hooker, with Oli Kebble and Sazi Sandi offering fresh power at prop. Connor Evans adds second row heft, Ruan Ackermann and Marcel Theunissen bring variety in the loose, while Imad Khan and Wandisile Simelane provide tempo and creativity in the backline. One glance at the names shows a squad built for intensity over 80 minutes, with a plan for the final quarter designed around impact rather than survival.
There is one enforced tweak in the backline. Damian Willemse, a connective spark across multiple positions, is out this week with a slight hamstring niggle. The expectation is that he will be available for selection next week, which eases any longer term concern. For now, the load shifts to a back division that has already shown control in pressure moments, with Feinberg Mngomezulu’s decision making and Reinach’s experience likely to be central to field position and tempo.
Gqeberha has been a happy hunting ground for the Stormers and the energy around Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium should match the stakes. Dobson’s message has been consistent, the group cannot rely on what they did in France, they must back it up at home against a La Rochelle side that thrives on collisions. The coach expects a clash with the feel of a Test match, shaped by the little battles where territory, discipline and set piece poise decide the rhythm.
We always get such fantastic support in Gqeberha, so we are all looking forward to what should be a big match with Test match intensity at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Few stories on the team sheet are as compelling as Mchunu’s. The former Sharks prop signed in the off season, endured an injury layoff, then was called up late to the Springbok tour for the final two games against Ireland and Wales. He finally made his Stormers debut in Bayonne, entering in the 48th minute and setting a tone with strong carries, firm tackles and a tidy scrummaging shift. He spoke with gratitude and hunger about getting on the field and meeting the standards the group set through pre season.
I have been looking forward to it for a very long time. Injuries happen, and it took longer than I expected, but I am just grateful to finally contribute. No matter who plays, we produce the same standard, so I just wanted to keep that high.
Mchunu’s next assignment is a stern one. La Rochelle brings serious muscle at scrum time, with French international Uini Atonio and Argentina’s Joel Sclavi looming as heavyweight tighthead options. The loosehead welcomed the test and noted a stylistic kinship, a scrum DNA that mirrors the Stormers’ own commitment to dominance at the hit and through the drive. For a prop seeking to plant a flag in his new colors, this is precisely the kind of contest that can accelerate belonging.
Inside forward camp, the talk is as much about standards as it is about praise. Forwards coach Rito Hlungwani lauded the set piece, with the scrum, lineout and maul all operating at a high clip in the URC, while reminding his men that the ceiling is still higher. He underlined the scale of the La Rochelle challenge, and tipped the cap to scrum coach Brok Harris for crafting a unit that embraces confrontation rather than fearing it.
Our scrum is probably at the top in the URC. Our lineout is at the top. Our mauling has been at the top. But every weekend I remind the players we are not there yet. They are very powerful, well coached, and they bully teams. We are looking forward to taking them on. It is going to be a real fight.
La Rochelle’s form line adds context to the stakes. The French side beat Leicester Tigers on Sunday, a reminder of their pedigree in knockout style arm wrestles and their comfort in the trenches. The Stormers understand that possession must be earned before it can be expressed. That makes exit accuracy, contestable kicks and breakdown presence non negotiable foundations, the parts of the game that seldom make headlines but often decide them.
Dobson’s choices at nine and ten will shape the balance. Reinach’s speed of service and eye for space can stretch a heavy pack, while Feinberg Mngomezulu’s versatility allows the Stormers to vary their kicking points, switch play and find back field grass. With Ruhan Nel back to steer midfield traffic alongside Jonathan Roche, and Gelant patrolling the backfield, the home side can toggle between direct carries and width. The trick is to win the right to do so, which brings the conversation back to collisions and the power of the first five phases.
It helps that the Stormers have been finishing well. The late surge in Bayonne owed something to belief and something to a bench built for impact. That template seems in place again. If the game narrows into a grind, Ackermann’s abrasive carries, Theunissen’s work rate and Simelane’s spark offer differing solutions. If it opens up, Reinach’s pace and Gelant’s vision can tilt the field in a hurry. The home plan appears designed to keep La Rochelle guessing in the final quarter rather than absorbing pressure.
Discipline remains a lesson from Bayonne. Playing with 14 men for half an hour and still winning is a testament to resolve, yet few teams are built to repeat that script. A smart approach around the contact area, patience under pressure and clear communication with the referee can save tackles, metres and points. The Stormers handled chaos well in France, the next step is preventing chaos from taking root in the first place.
Momentum and narrative are often tied, and this group has plenty of both. From home wins over Leinster and Ospreys to gritty successes at Scarlets, Zebre and Benetton, then a classy outing in Limerick, every week has layered confidence on top of effort. The Champions Cup brings a different kind of pressure but the essentials hold, a connected forward pack, backs with variety, and a belief that the last five minutes belong to them if they have done the work in the first 75.
Three themes to watch in Gqeberha
- the set piece duel, scrum and lineout tempo in a battle both teams expect to define the night,
- halfback control, how Reinach and Feinberg Mngomezulu manage exits and kicks to turn La Rochelle,
- discipline under pressure, after Bayonne the Stormers know that tidy decision making is a competitive edge.
There is also the human thread that runs through this contest. Players who scarcely featured earlier in the season have stepped forward, a point Dobson highlighted in the wake of Bayonne when he praised contributors like Ntuthuko Mchunu, Neethling Fouché, Lukhanyo Vokozela, Connor Evans, Salmaan Moerat finding form after injury, Ruan Ackermann, Imad Khan, Jonathan Roche and Clinton Swart. The message is clear, the Stormers are not built around one or two stars, they are built around a squad that holds the rope together.
The venue matters too. Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium has a way of wrapping its arms around a team, and the Stormers have leaned into that connection. The coach said it plainly, they cannot wait to play in front of their people. That matters on third downs of rugby, on scrum fives, on the split second when a chaser decides whether to compete in the air or hold shape. In games this tight, noise and belief are not intangibles, they are small edges that add up.
Finally, the stakes are simple. Win here, and the Champions Cup pathway opens up, a line straight into knockout rugby that eluded the Stormers last season. Lose, and there is still a road, but one with more traffic and fewer shortcuts. The URC clash with the Lions in Cape Town follows, another reason to bank momentum now and keep the unbeaten run intact across competitions. The Stormers have earned the right to dream big, now comes the hard part of turning promise into points.
Everything about this week suggests a game that will be felt as much as watched. Power meets structure, patience meets ambition, and a proud home crowd meets a team eager to give them a performance to remember. The Stormers have spoken about backing up France with South Africa, about standards over celebrations, about finding the next step. La Rochelle will test every piece of that plan. If the season so far is a guide, the Stormers are ready for the examination.
Projected impact on the season arc
A win would mean more than standings. It would validate a style rooted in set piece authority and late game clarity, it would affirm selections that balance youth and experience, and it would set a tone for the December stretch where margins are thin. Most of all, it would reconnect a road tested team with its people in a way that fuels the next challenge.
For the players, nights like this have a way of hardening reputations. A front row that stands firm against La Rochelle earns respect that carries for months. A backline that makes smart choices in wet or windy conditions becomes trusted to control knockout tempo. A bench that flips a contest in the final quarter starts to play with a swagger that feeds future comebacks. Those are the building blocks of a season that lasts into spring.
For the supporters, this is the first look at a Champions Cup campaign that is already alive with possibility. The storyline has been kind so far, the hard yards on tour, the comeback in Bayonne, the names on the teamsheet that spark excitement. The next chapter writes itself on Saturday in Gqeberha, a place that knows how to lift a team and hold them to account in equal measure.
Stormers against La Rochelle has the feel of a landmark night. The unbeaten run, the selection strength, the set piece pride, and the embrace of a home crowd ready to roar. The details will be fought over metres and moments, yet the meaning is already clear. This is a group determined to keep its promises, and a city eager to share the journey.
