Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
We can feed off Jean-Luc, says Juan
Fleck: It’s neck and neck in every group
“WHEN two killers meet, one must die ...” Stormers co-captain Juan de Jongh made no bones about tonight’s crunch Super Rugby match against the Lions being about more than just log points.
The Lions and the Stormers have been the top South African teams in Super Rugby this year, and both teams play an entertaining brand of rugby at a very high tempo.
While De Jongh dismissed the notion that tonight’s match could be some sort of Springbok trial, especially because new national team coach Allister Coetzee is likely to be in attendance at Ellis Park, there will be a lot of spice to the match.
For Stormers coach Robbie Fleck, it is probably that time of the season, and the sort of opposition, where he can see how far they have come in terms of their new attacking approach.
The Lions are the best attacking team in South Africa, so this should be the perfect opportunity to see if they can match, or even beat, the Joburg side in that area of the game.
“It’s an important game. As we all know, this is a tough competition. It’s neck and neck in every group,” Fleck said.
“For us, we are at a stage where we are coming up against a good side away from home. We need to perform well in terms of the confidence of the team, to confirm the direction we are going in is right and obviously for the campaign.
“They are not in our group, but still it’s a local South African side who are leading the way. We need to challenge ourselves and put in a good performance.”
But, while they want to gauge their progress in attack, it’s going to be important that the Stormers defend well.
Their defence was terrible against the Sunwolves last Friday. But it was the sort of game where the intensity dropped when the Stormers took a big lead after 20 minutes. And that is probably not going to happen against a Lions team who put the pedal to the metal for the full 80 minutes.
“(Last week) it was a combination of things really. We became loose because the game became loose. The pleasing part was that even though the game went that way, we operated quite well, especially in our attack,” Fleck said.
“Defensively, we probably let ourselves down a little bit. We were slow to fold and slow to set. But the pleasing aspect was the fact the guys could pull together and we tightened up in 20 minutes of that second half, which allowed us to gain the ascendancy again.
“If we want to become a championship side, we need to recognise the situations and deal with it better. I’m certainly happy that we will be able to thrive in that sort of environment.”
A player who will have to set the tone for the visitors on attack and defence is going to be young flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis, who will only be making his second start in a Stormers jersey.
He made a big impression in his run-on start last week, but tonight he faces a Lions team who will be looking to put him off his game. He is also coming up against the form SA flyhalf in Super Rugby, Elton Jantjies.
De Jongh, though, feels like Du Plessis will be ready for the challenge.
“I’m really excited for JeanLuc du Plessis, he has been playing really well. Not only when he started last weekend, but before that as well,” the inside centre said.
“He is a guy who is brave, brave on attack and brave on defence. He does the basics well, but he also has a lot of flair.
“It’s all about us working with him and making sure that we can feed off the opportunities that he will create for us. The combinations are working well, and it’s important to keep the standards up against the Lions.”