Cardiff to face Stormers in Cape Town in URC play-off

Cardiff beat Stormers on Friday to secure a top-eight finish [Huw Evans Picture Agency] Cardiff will travel to South Africa to face Stormers in the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-offs. Corniel van Zyl’s side booked the URC quarter-finals with a 22-16 victory over Stormers at the Arms Park on Friday night. The bonus-point win was enough to finish in sixth place in the table after play-off rivals Ulster and Lions both lost on the final weekend of the regular season.

It means they will face an immediate rematch against third-placed Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday, 30 May. Cardiff face the logistical challenge of trying to get the squad out to South Africa next weekend to start preparing for the match. "We were delighted to reach the play-offs but there's the next job to do so we will hopefully push on and then see how long this season can go," said van Zyl.

Cardiff outscored Stormers four tries to one and produced a dynamic defensive effort but were outmuscled in the scrum. Van Zyl knows John Dobson's Stormers side will be out for revenge. "The set-piece [scrum] was probably a bit of a concern but Stormers are really good at so that's definitely something we'll have to look at," said van Zyl.

"There's a few individuals in their team that are great players, so it's about getting over the barriers and also playing away from home and producing the same level of performance as we did [in Cardiff]. "That's the biggest challenge. Knockout rugby is the ultimate thing, anything can happen.