STORMERS JUST CANNOT CLOSE OUT MATCHES
AFTER their second consecutive Rainbow Cup SA defeat, the Stormers are going to have to seriously step up if they want to have a chance in this competition.
But it’s not even so much about the tournament, it’s just about time they achieve some consistent results.
It’s been hit and miss for coach John Dobson’s team until now – not in terms of results, because those have been total misses so far, but more in terms of performances.
There was no one thing that went wrong in their 20-16 loss to the Bulls at Cape Town Stadium at the weekend. Instead, that game reeked of the only thing the Stormers have managed to gain consistency in so far – losing games they have no reason to.
It happened in their last meeting with the Bulls prior to this one, it happened against the Sharks in their Rainbow Cup opener, and it happened on Saturday again.
While some of those recent occurrences could perhaps in part be put down to individual errors, the bigger problem is the Stormers’ inability to close out games and perform for 80 minutes.
The Stormers started off well and, in the second half especially, they had the upper hand where territory and possession were concerned but, yet again, they failed to make use of their opportunities.
Granted, the Bulls’ defence was outstanding, and while two of the main things that went wrong for the Stormers were their line-out, which didn’t function, and their failure to convert their time spent in the opposition’s red zone into points in the second half, those aren’t the only issues.
After all, those factors, especially the line-out, aren’t a weekly feature.
Somewhere, something needs to be done. Questions need to be asked about their sometimes frustrating game plan and their lack of results – something that should never be an issue given the talent-stocked pool that Western Province rugby is.
Sure, a commanding showing from their No 10 was lacking and there were a few other individual actions that didn’t help, but their loss and, by extension, their other puzzling results, cant just be put down to that.
In the build-up to the game, hooked Scarra Ntubeni said that they had focused on performing for a full game and that he feels the senior players need to take responsibility for that shortcoming, but not much changed in their most recent runout.
Whether it’s just that killer instinct they need to gain, as Ntubeni said this week, or something else, point is this team needs to start delivering results. Because given what they are working with, there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t.