Stormers look to plug the leaks
POOR: CAPE SIDE’S DEFENCE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
Leyds and Treeby crucial to the cause against Blues.
After their defence was badly exposed during their nightmare tour of New Zealand, the Stormers will be under huge pressure in their Super Rugby clash tonight at Newlands against the Blues.
The Stormers conceded a total of 24 tries during their defeats of 57-24 to the Crusaders, 57-14 against the Highlanders and 41-22 against the Hurricanes.
Coach Robbie Fleck said a lot of hard work has been done with the assistance of defence coach Paul Treu.
Tonight is the first time they are back at Newlands since losing their first match of the season 2916 to the Lions a month ago and Fleck said they owe their supporters a biggie.
“We have prepared well for this game and want to make the most of the opportunity to play in front of our fans again,” Fleck said.
Fleck said the return of Springboks like locks Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit, prop Frans Malherbe and centre Damian de Allende (on the bench) will hopefully have the desired effect.
“It is great to have all of these players back in the mix and the players are determined to lift our game following the bye of last week,” said Fleck.
The Blues’ dangerous backs, like fullback Melani Nanai, right wing Matt Duffie, centres George Moala and Sonny Bill Williams and leftwing Rieko Ioane, can cause major damage if given half a chance.
The defence in the 10/12 channel between converted flyhalf Dillyn Leyds and inside centre Shaun Treeby will be crucial, with the danger of the powerful and gamebreaking Williams’ attributes well noted.
But the Blues sometimes struggle to focus for the entire 80 minutes, evidenced by the three maul tries by hookers Torsten van Jaarsveld and Elandre Huggett, who scored twice, ran past them in the Blues’ 50-32 win in Auckland.
Kick-off: 7pm