Stormers relish winds of change
LIONS: FLECK EXPECTS ‘KIWI-TYPE’ ENCOUNTER
Coach buoyed by capacity within group and knows raising the bar in recent weeks is only the beginning.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck has referred to the Lions as playing a “Kiwi-type’’ game ahead of their big Super Rugby clash this weekend at Newlands.
After their epic 34-26 win over the Chiefs last weekend, Fleck said it was like facing ‘’another’’ team who play the New Zealand way, despite his team being the marginal favourite.
“The Lions were finalists last year and are playing some great rugby this year, so it is back to square one for us this week,” said Fleck.
He added that the biggest challenge for his team would be to maintain the high standards they have set for themselves especially their last two matches against the Cheetahs and the Chiefs.
“If we want to do well in this competition we are going to have to play like that every week,” said Fleck.
“The guys realise that they have to play at that intensity in every game, it is about hard learnings again and improving again.”
The two biggest injury concerns at the moment in the Stormers camp is the calf injury to lock Eben Etzebeth, which almost ruled him out of the Chiefs game as well as the shoulder concern over young flanker Cobus Wiese.
Lock Pieter-Steph du Toit should however return after being pulled out of the squad due to a knee concern, but Fleck said it was the way Chris van Zyl turned up which pleased him the most.
“What’s happening at the moment is that whoever puts on the jersey is performing, that just shows that we are building capacity within the group,” said Fleck.
Recording good wins against the Bulls, Kings, Cheetahs and Chiefs, the Stormers earlier had to settle for “ugly’’ wins against the Jaguares and the Sunwolves, but Fleck said they reached a defining point. “The biggest thing for me is the growth that the team has shown over the last couple of months, so it was a tipping point for us and we can take a lot of confidence going forward,” he said.