Best yet to come for the Stormers
FOUR out of four, but still way off their best.
It’s going to be scary when the Stormers actually put together a flawless performance after comfortably beating a hapless Sharks team 29-13 at Newlands on Saturday night.
The performance wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, as there are still plenty of areas where they can improve. But the way they put away the Springbok-laden Sharks team gives one the sense that their best is yet to come.
The Cape franchise’s lineout is still a major concern, while they lack a bit of finesse and spark at the back. Their counterattack is also pedestrian.
So far this season hookers Scarra Ntubeni and Bongi Mbonambi haven’t been able to consistently find their jumpers, which has seriously hampered the team’s attacking strategy from first-phase ball. The plethora of over-throws have also neutralised the team’s much-vaunted maul without the opposition having to break a sweat.
Besides the incredible Damian de Allende, the Stormers’ backs haven’t really made an impact with ball-in-hand.
Demetri Catrakilis’ kicks off the tee have been great, but his decision-making at flyhalf needs to improve. He also got away with a terrible clearance kick on Saturday when Johnny Kotze collected the ball and raced through to score after the Sharks backs let it bounce.
But the Stormers are sitting pretty on top of the Super Rugby standings after an unbeaten start. And if they improve on those areas, they could be genuine title contenders this season after being written off at the start of the campaign.
The Stormers’ scrum has been superb in their first four matches, and the foundation of their success. On Saturday night they managed three tightheads against a Sharks frontrow that boasted two internationals.
Vincent Koch, the man from the Pumas, is anchoring the scrum like a Super Rugby veteran, while Steven Kitshoff looks leaner and meaner, and seems to have put last season’s troubles behind him.
“It’s actually a massive surprise when you thinking of defending and the ball pops out at the back of your scrum!” captain and No 8 Duane Vermeulen joked after the game.
“It was a massive effort from our tight five. We had our scrumming session on Tuesday, and as you guys know it was the hottest day in Cape Town – 42 degrees. It was tough for the guys, but we knew when we hit crunch time it will pay off.”
The Stormers certainly looked after their ball a lot better on Saturday night after being outmuscled and outthought by the Blues and the Lions at the breakdown.
The dangerous Sharks openside flank Marcell Coetzee didn’t manage a single turnover and collected only one loose ball. In fact the whole Sharks team only managed two turnovers on Saturday night.
Coach Allister Coetzee was beaming when he walked into the press conference after the match. And why not? The Stormers have basically taken command of the South African conference with two away wins against the Bulls and the Lions and a home win against the Durban side.
“It’s very satisfying and a pleasing result, especially at Newlands. It was special to play at Newlands, and tonight was really a special performance,” Coetzee said, as the team sent most of the 40 232 strong crowd home with a song in their hearts.
“From last weekend we wanted to step up the physical
PWD Stormers 4 4 0 Brumbies 4 3 0 Chiefs 4 3 0 H’ricanes 3 3 0 Bulls 4 2 0 Waratahs 3 2 0 H’landers 3 2 0 Cheetahs 3 2 0 Rebels 3 1 0 Sharks 4 1 0 Lions 4 1 0 Force 4 1 0 Reds 4 1 0 Crusaders 3 1 0 Blues 4 0 0 Fixtures Friday, March 13: Hurricanes v Blues, Palmerston North, 8.35am, Force v Rebels, Perth, 1pm. Saturday, March 14: Crusaders v Lions, Christchurch, 5.30am, Highlanders v Waratahs, Dunedin, 8.35am, Reds v Brumbies, Brisbane, 10.40am, Stormers v Chiefs, Newlands, 3pm, Cheetahs v Sharks, Bloemfontein, 5.05pm. L PD P 0 42 16 1 59 15 1 28 14 0 47 13 2 11 10 1 16 9 1 4 9 1 -12 9 2 -5 6 3 -13 6 3 -31 5 3 -41 5 3 -57 5 2 -28 4 4 -20 3 intensity at the breakdown. We did that and we scrummed well. Obviously the lineout is still an issue that we weren’t happy about, but it’s something that we can rectify.
“In terms of the conference, it’s a massive win for us. The win puts us six points clear in our conference, and to win against quality opposition like the Sharks ... our players did well.”
One of the real stars has been De Allende, who was simply unstoppable with ball in hand on Saturday night. He overshadowed the Sharks’ seasoned Bok centre pairing of Frans Steyn and JP Pietersen.
He also nailed Pietersen in a big hit on defence, while he also charged the ball down that led to the Stormers’ penalty try in the second half.
“He has been powerful, strong in the carries and that’s how we know Damian,” Coetzee said of his No 12.
“He is really in a good space, and he has really stepped up in his conditioning a lot. The way we train, we are getting stronger in every game.”
The Sharks look like a disjointed outfit at the moment. After starting off well against the Stormers, they faded and had a few soft moments. Two of those moments resulted in 14 points for the Stormers.
Kotze’s try was one of them, while referee Jaco Peyper awarded the Stormers a penalty-try after Sharks scrumhalf Cobus Reinach had illegally played the ball in his in-goal area after wing Odwa Ndungane knocked the ball on after failing to clear his line. The try also knocked the wind out of the visitors’ sails.
There was some initial controversy about the try, but Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold says the referee made the right call.
“My understanding is that when Ndungane knocked the ball on we can’t play it, and the referee may have said that by Cobus falling on the ball he prevented the Stormers player (Dillyn Leyds) from scoring,” Gold said.
“Those are soft moments and when you’re playing against a side like the Stormers who are full of confidence, they’re going to hurt you.”
The Stormers will next try to “hurt” the Chiefs when the two teams clash at 3pm at Newlands on Saturday.