The DHL Stormers happily accepted Connacht’s gift of a Vodacom URC home semi-finalin Cape Town but the defending champions won’t be returning any favours as theycontinue their ruthless streak at the DHL Stadium.

Ithas been coach John Dobson's mantra that his squad is all about making CapeTown smile over the past two seasons and Cape Town rugby fans have not onlybeen smiling but they have been spending on match tickets.

Aweek ago, the DHL Stormers supporters ensured a DHL Stadium record crowd of 44100 watched the hosts beat arch-rivals, the Vodacom Bulls, for the sixthsuccessive time in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, to advance to a home semi-final, that aweek previously seemed unlikely with Ulster hosting Connacht in Belfast.

Connachtprovided a shock result with a dogged 15-10 win on a Friday evening when mostrugby supporters in Cape Town tuned in, wore green and did a quick googlesearch on where Galway was situated in Ireland.

Whenthe final whistle blew in Belfast, there were as many screams of delight inCape Town as there were in Galway.

Wereit not for an incredible effort from fellow semi-finalists Munster in round 17,the DHL Stormers would have been going into Saturday’s semi-final looking toextend their winning streak at the DHL Stadium to 19 successive wins. The DHLStormers had also won two matches in Stellenbosch and took a home match toGqeberha. They won all three matches and in the history of the Vodacom URC they have lostjust eight times in 40 matches.

Munster,in Cape Town, was a defeat that hurt but it was thoroughly deserved for thevisitors. It will take a similarly massive effort from Connacht to beat the DHLStormers on Cape Town's Atlantic Coast.

TheDHL Stormers draw plenty of energy from the blue-and-white wall that encirclesthe DHL Stadium pitch on match days.

“Wehad a bit of a tough one with the Montpellier versus Exeter game and not beingable to host a Heineken Cup quarter-final here,” said DHL Stormers head coachJohn Dobson.

“TheUlster result in the last league round knocked us down to third on pointsdifference. So it’s nice to have one in your favour. To be able to do thisagain, a play-off at home, is so special for us.”

However,Dobson is not taking anything for granted against a Connacht side that hasshown time and again their ability to punch well above their weight.

“Theyare tough opposition. With respect to Connacht, a team that has crossed theequator is more preferable opposition rather than somebody flying downfrom up country or Durban,” said Dobson.

“Wecan feel confident, but that confidence must not be interpreted as arrogance.We have massive respect for the culture and team ethos of Connacht. They fight,and their attack shape is really good. The way they took Ulster apart at thebreakdown was good.

“LikeSeabelo (Senatla) always says, ‘we got dog’; they have that ‘dog’ in them.Connacht is a great story, to do what they are doing with the smallest budget.They are a team that does not go away, and Ulster experienced that, as haveother teams. They have a helluva lot of mongrel in them.”

DHLStormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman emphasised that the hosts are preparingfor a heavyweight arm-wrestle.

“Theyare a tough team, we realised that when we played them in Galway last year.They are a quality side, well-coached and they have experienced players in theIrish setup.

“Connachtare a team we won't take lightly. That game in the first round was tight untilthe red card and they still came back. They fight for everything. Theyfight for every ball, every ruck and you can see they're playing for each otheron the field.

"Thatmakes them quite a threat, but we've got our own character and we're a strongteam." Whatever the result, both teams will know they have been in a dogfight.