Stormers’ win testament to dedication, hard work

THE Stormers’ 34-26 win over the Chiefs at Newlands on Saturday was a victory for their ability to adapt and improve in a short period of time.

Robbie Fleck’s men produced a performance of high intensity for 80 minutes that validated the coach’s decision to overhaul their training and preparation methods completely after last year’s Super Rugby tournament.

The turning point was losing the quarterfinal last season 6021 to the Chiefs at Newlands.

The home team were stunned by the ferocity and pace with which the Chiefs played the game.

Fleck recognised his team needed to improve its skills but in could not happen in isolation.

The squad also had to improve its conditioning to be able to play at a high intensity for 80 minutes‚ which in turn would give the players confidence to use their skills.

At the weekend, SP Marais’s second-half try‚ off a Dillyn Leyds backhanded pass when he was seated on his backside‚ was a microcosm of how far the Stormers had developed in less than a year.

The tempo of the match never let up. In the end it was only the courageous Stormers’ scrambling defence‚ built on their much-improved conditioning, that kept the Chiefs at bay.

“They were probably a bit shocked after last year’s game,” an admiring Chiefs coach Dave Rennie said. “They’ve clearly made some shifts and really have upped their intensity.

“It was a helluva spectacle, wasn’t it? I thought the Stormers were excellent and played their part in a free-flowing game and so did we.

“But they won the battle of body height and really got under us when they carried‚ especially around the fringes. They have learnt a lot from last year – they have better systems and are much fitter.

“We felt that with 20 minutes to go we could run them off their feet‚ but they scrambled really well.”

Fleck tried to tone down over-the-top euphoria about the win‚ but admitted he was relieved the result and performance had validated the path he chose for his team after last year’s quarterfinal loss.

“It certainly gives me‚ and the coaching group‚ confidence that we are on the right track‚” Fleck said.

“Everyone has belief and we are just going to keep going. We are realistic though‚ there are still a few cracks we need to work on but if we want to do well in this competition‚ we will have to play like we did [against the Chiefs] every week.

“What the Kiwi teams have learnt is to play under fatigue and that is something that we still need to learn. There was a bit of growth because we had to play under extreme fatigue.

“They upped the tempo in the last 15 minutes and had this been last year‚ we would have fallen off. We are fit but we need to play under extreme conditions and that showed in the defence in the last couple of minutes.

“I think that South Africans are fit, but need to learn to stay in the game when we are tired and that’s where I feel the New Zealand teams take it to a new level – they can still attack and play when they are tired.”

Chiefs captain Aaron Cruden said: “It was certainly high tempo and that’s what both teams wanted although there was some sweat on the ball that contributed to handling mistakes from both sides.”

“We are disappointed we lost but in a few days we will reflect on it and it will be pretty cool to look at some of the highlights of that game as a fan of rugby.”