Stormers set to welcome back Evan Roos and Leolin Zas

The men from the Cape suffered a 42-17 loss to Exeter Chiefs in their Champions Cup quarter-final at Sandy Park on Saturday and are now fully focused on defending their United Rugby Championship (URC) title.

And Dobson confirmed that Springbok number eight Roos and star wing Zas, who were the URC˜s player of the season and top try-scorer respectively during the 2021/22 campaign, are close to full recoveries from injuries sustained at the start of the year.

Roos injured his medial cruciate ligament in the Stormers' Round 13 defeat to Ulster on January 27 while Zas suffered a minor gluteal muscle tear in the Round 12 loss to Glasgow Warriors on January 8.

Roos' injury has healed and he could feature for Western Province in their Currie Cup clash against the Cheetahs or for the Stormers in their URC encounter with Munster.

Both matches will take place at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, although Dobson said the back-row is likely to play off the replacements bench.

"It's definitely too soon [to start]," he told Sport24 on Sunday. "He could come off the bench or play in the Currie Cup."

Dobson hinted that Roos' and Zas' return could boost the Stormers physicality finishing ability, which could be the difference between winning and losing as the URC moves towards its business end.

"Evan will be back next week. That's really important to us as we go into the sharp end of the competition," added Dobson.

"Probably two of our biggest game-breakers from last season were Zas and Evan. Having them back for the next few weeks will be good for us."

After their clash against Munster, the Stormers will finish off the league phase of the URC with a match against Benetton in Cape Town on Friday, April 21.