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Jean targets 'mini-victories'

Cape Town - Stormers captain Jean De Villiers has warned his team not to look too far ahead of themselves as they prepare to face the Sharks in the Super Rugby semi-finals at Newlands on Saturday.

The Stormers finished top of the overall log for the first time in their history and will host the final should they beat the Sharks.

But De Villiers said they're not thinking of that just yet, as they have a massive task at hand against a class outfit.

"The key is not to think about the next step," he told the Stormers website. "The key is to concentrate on what we need to do this weekend, the process of getting a good result and focusing on the mini-victories within the big battle.

"I think you will make a massive mistake if you start thinking about next week already because obviously if you don't pitch up this week then there is no next week."

The Sharks had to travel back from Australia where they beat the Reds in Brisbane, while the Stormers had a bye courtesy of their top log position, but De Villiers was quick to shun any thoughts of their opponents being too tired for the big clash.

"When you get to this stage of the competition you overcome anything that might make you not play well. Even though they have had to travel the motivation is there, you are at the business-end of the competition and you are playing to win the trophy.

The clash at Newlands kicks off at 17:05 on Saturday.

Teams:

Stormers: 15. Joe Pietersen, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Jean de Villiers (captain), 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Peter Grant, 9. Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Deon Fourie, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Andries Bekker, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1.  Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16. Frans Malherbe, 17. Deon Carstens, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Don Armand, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Burton Francis, 22. Gerhard van den Heever

Sharks: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Tim Whitehead, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Charl McLeod, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Keegan Daniel (captain), 5 Anton Bresler, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Steven Sykes, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Jacques Botes, 21 Odwa Ndungane, 22 Riaan Viljoen
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