NO REASON FOR STORMERS TO SING THE BLUES

THE Stormers have got some making up to do, that they know very well. But is all the talk around that game against the Blues just unnecessary and premature panic?

After getting the 2020 Super Rugby season off to the best possible start, all of the good the Stormers had done until two weeks ago was forgotten when the Blues gave them a tough rugby lesson at Newlands.

Or maybe all the good wasn’t forgotten, maybe it’s exactly because of that that coach John Dobson, and no doubt their fans, were so disappointed.

Up until their meeting with the Blues, the Stormers gave the Faithful good reason to believe this might be their year. Not the way it’s been said year in and year out to no avail. No, this time there was reason to believe that the recycled Cape phrase of belief might actually see some return.

And you can’t blame fans for having felt that way. Giving the Hurricanes a scoreboard blanking deserves every bit of praise that could come their way, even though the Kiwis were atrocious. But the Stormers were superb, that’s it.

Doing the same against their old foes, the Bulls, one week later by also keeping them scoreless … just as impressive. And while things didn’t go as easy against the Lions up at Ellis Park, the Stormers still snatched victory from the Lions’ claws with that red-clock victory.

Not much needs to be said about the Jaguares, beating them is something that will always be welcomed.

Given all of that, given everything that happened during the first four rounds, I doubt anybody would have, or could have, anticipated what went down against the Blues. The weary, indifferent-looking figures that were seen on the pitch that Saturday afternoon didn’t, at all, reflect the Stormers warriors that were praised for their character and commitment until then. Not even close.

But is it really that bad? There can be no doubt that the Stormers will want to get back to winning ways and have some momentum before going on tour, and the fact that they have a trip to Buenos Aires after their meeting at Kings Park also makes it important that they get the results this weekend. Going up there to face the Jaguares is tough enough, doing so with no confidence, well, I can’t imagine that that could possibly be easy.

Dobson also yesterday again spoke about how the Sharks game can be a defining one for them, and the way the Sharks have been going certainly makes them a tough one.

That performance against the Blues did do damage, at least to the confidence levels and the standings, to an extent, but it wasn’t disastrous to the Stormers’ campaign.

Maybe it wasn’t that bad at all. Maybe, if you wanna push it, you can even say it was needed after the joys of the first four rounds. Rather now than later, right?

If there’s one thing that can be said with certainty, it’s that the disappointment against the Blues will certainly make them approach the Sharks game with even more determination. No complacency, no feelings of ‘we can afford to not give 100’, nothing.

Yeah, they were poor against the Blues, but something like that should rather have happened now than later. And while they were good until then, they weren’t exactly flawless. And what can be more galvanising than an eye-opener?

The result and performance against the Blues was not campaign threatening, that’s an exaggeration. And if you want to be positive about it, look at it like this – now the Stormers will approach every single one of their nearing games as a must-win.