Fleck knows there is pressure on him to get runs on the board

IT is still February, so I should be allowed to draw on a cricketing analogy by speculating that Stormers coach Robbie Fleck ought to be feeling the same pressure at the start of this Super Rugby season that you would feel if you won the toss and elected to bat on a flat pitch. In other words, it’s time to make hay while the sun shines.

Surely, as a new coach, Fleck should be allowed some leeway; an easing in period given that he has a youngish squad and a transitioning team? In theory, I agree, but the new format introduced to Super Rugby has brought with it a change of reality that makes it imperative to get runs on the board while the going is good, rather than build towards a future where the wicket could be a lot more treacherous.

The coach has himself agreed that his men have been presented with a dream draw. They will play eight home matches, with only Australian teams from the Antipodean section of the competition being encountered in the league phases of competition. The tour component entails stopovers in Melbourne and Perth. It has never been easier.

Compare that to what the Sharks face in the coming months – they play just seven home games, they play five matches against New Zealand teams, three of which will be overseas, and after their tour they return to Durban for one match against the Hurricanes before flying to Buenos Aires for their clash with the Jaguares just a few days later.

As I write this I’m watching the Brumbies annihilate the Hurricanes. It serves as a reminder of the folly of just assuming the Australians will be easier opponents than the Kiwis. But if the tournament is to follow the historical trend, it must be said there is potential for the playing field to be crazily lopsided and unequal.

Hence the pressure to produce now. Next year, Fleck’s men will be facing a schedule much like the one the Sharks face now. He won’t want to be in the position that Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold is in now, where the previous year’s failure means survival might depend on a positive win balance in a season where the odds are loaded against you from the start.

The odds certainly aren’t loaded against Fleck right now, and if they do what I expect them to do today by beating the Bulls and follow up next week with a win over the Cheetahs, the platform would have been laid for a solid first season for a man who carries the tag of interim coach.

Given the complicated format, there may not be a fair way of determining the best South African team.

The theory that the Lions’ resurgence over the past few years should translate into them being the top local side is accepted a bit too glibly, as they go into the competition with a draw disadvantage not unlike that of the Sharks.

The itineraries are so different it is almost as if the teams are playing in different competitions and, of course, there is the unknown factor that is the Argentinian side. But if you couple the forward depth they boast at the start of the season with their draw advantage, the Stormers should be expected to end ahead of any of the other local teams on a collated log determined by the points accumulated during the season.

Any team that can start out with JC Janse van Rensburg, Scarra Ntubeni and Frans Malherbe as the back-up front row in round one has to have something going for it. The injury to Jean Kleyn was a blow, but Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit make up an impressive second row and I liked the look of JD Schickerling in the warm-up against the Jaguares.

Where the Stormers might have problems is if they suffer anymore injuries among the backs, for there isn’t much experienced back-up. Of course, like openside flank, much is going to depend on how the youngsters vying for the No 10 jersey develop during the season.

The biggest concern, though, ironically may be the Stormers’ old strength – defence. I won’t forget in a hurry the shock that nearly floored me when I spotted a television screen through a shop window while walking the streets of Newcastle on a Friday evening during last year’s World Cup. It reflected a massive Lions score in a Currie Cup match against Western Province.

The doom brigade was out in force when it was learned that defence guru Jacques Nienaber wasn’t going to be involved in last year’s Super Rugby campaign, but the potential weakness was covered by the presence of the man who effectively doubled as a defence coach for the Springboks at the World Cup, Duane Vermeulen. The No 8 is now in France and it could well turn out that what he did on the field for the Stormers could be missed less than what he offered in his unofficial role off the pitch.