Speed up front, and bulk at the back as Fleck picks his side for Waratahs

STORMERS coach Robbie Fleck says a “pretty mobile pack” is important going into their match against the Waratahs in Sydney tomorrow (kick-off 10.45 am SA time).

For their second Super Rugby game of the 2018 season and their first of their three-match tour to Australasia, Fleck has named Springbok lock Pieter-Steph du Toit – who missed the Super Rugby opener against the Jaguares last week – at No 5, with JD Schickerling at No 4, while Schickerling’s second-row partner of last week, Chris van Zyl, drops to the bench.

In the loose trio, Kobus van Dyk replaces Cobus Wiese at blindside flank, with Sikhumbuzo Notshe, fresh from Sevens duty with the Blitzboks, on the bench.

Fleck said that the Waratahs’ kicking game makes quick movement around the park crucial.

“It (speed in the pack) did play a role. We think it’s going to be a pretty open game, there’s some fresh faces in the Waratahs team and they like to keep ball in hand and that they’ve got a good attacking kicking game,” Fleck said during a teleconference call from Sydney yesterday.

“They’ll look to put us under pressure with their contestable kicks and kicks in-behind, so our pack needs to be pretty mobile. We need to have some fresh legs and speed across the park throughout the 80 minutes.”

“Up front we’re rotating Cobus Wiese and Kobus van Dyk and bringing Notshe in to make an impact. Cobus had a good game last week, there’s a few things he needs to work on, but we’re pretty excited for his part, and there’s still another two tour games to go.”

It seems to be a combination of speed up front and bulk against the ’Tahs, as JJ Engelbrecht will start at outside centre in the place of EW Viljoen, while SP Marais is back at fullback (after returning from a toe injury) in the place of Dillyn Leyds, who moves to the right wing. Seabelo Senatla drops out of the matchday squad.

Seeing that the Stormers play the Crusaders and the Highlanders after their meeting with the Aussies, it becomes vital they stock up on log points and confidence this weekend.

And Fleck was pretty confident, saying that although the Waratahs should “certainly be better” than last year, his team have everything it will take to “beat them at home”.

“We haven’t said we’re going to target this game or that game, it’s about us accumulating as many points as we can on tour. Last year we came back with nothing but lessons learnt. Now we just want to get as many points as we can – how we get those points is irrelevant. It’s all about gaining as many points as possible, gaining confidence, getting our combinations right and playing good rugby.”

There were certainly a number of things the Stormers had to improve on since their 28-20 win over the Jaguares. Their lineouts and handling put the Stormers in a few pressure situations and ruined some scoring opportunities.

“The Waratahs didn’t have a good season last year, but they will certainly be better than they were last year. They like to keep ball in hand and they’ve got attacking threats all around the park, so we’re going to have to be sharp. But there’s opportunities against that. It’s their first game and we have a game in hand. We’ve had a good week working on the things from the Jaguares game, and we’re certainly looking forward to it. ”

“We believe with what we’ve got at our disposal and the way we want to play we’ve got enough to challenge them at home. So it’s an exciting week for us.”