Cultivating a killer instinct
15 Mar 2010
They were the second-half slackers of 2009, but the Stormers are starting to bury opponents when they have them on the rack.
The 2009 season was a disappointment for the nearly men of Super Rugby, as six of their defeats were within seven points or less. The Stormers were competitive in the first half, but would fall away in the second, and then coach Rassie Erasmus was at a loss to explain why his charges couldn’t perform for 80 minutes.
The Cape franchise fared little better in the opening rounds of the 2010 competition. They raced to 26 points in the first half against the Lions, but then failed to record a single point in the second. Against the Waratahs, they scored their third try in the 56th minute, but couldn’t claim the all-important fourth in the time remaining.
The last two weeks have witnessed a massive improvement. They beat the Highlanders 33-0 and the Hurricanes 37-13, scoring nine tries and conceding just two. What’s been impressive is their consistency from start to finish. Against the Highlanders, the Stormers scored 17 points in the second half. The final 40 of the Canes clash also saw 17 points scored by the Stormers.
After last Saturday’s game, coach Allister Coetzee told keo.co.za this team is beginning to cultivate a killer instinct. They’re staying hungry even when they’ve built a healthy lead, and more importantly, they’re maintaining their intensity. They conceded two tries in the last twelve minutes, but ask the Canes about the Stormers’ tackling in the second half. Schalk Burger is just one player whose final tackle was as fierce as his first.
Champion teams go the distance, and although they had the quality in 2009, they didn’t have the right strategy or attitude. Coetzee has credited Burger as a leader and Burger his lieutenants on the field. Springboks Andries Bekker, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana know how to win trophies, and they know how to win close games. They know that when teams believe they’ve won, they’re most vulnerable.
That’s why the recent run of form hasn’t been underscored by arrogant proclamations. There’s no talk of play-off matches, which is unsurprising since the Stormers have only ever made it to the knockout stage on two occasions (in 1999 and 2004). They should take nothing for granted, and keep the champagne on ice until they finally confirm a semi-final spot.
Their defence was magnificent against the Canes; that in-your face monstering by midfielders and loose forwards alike smashing the opposition back in the tackle. They cut down the space quickly which meant Ma’a Nonu never built up momentum and fellow All Black Rodney So’oialo was seen swinging his arms in frustration.
In a competition where defence at the tackle has come under scrutiny, the Stormers seem to have cottoned onto a winning formula. Francois Louw doesn’t always get it right, but has made a number of steals in attacking and defensive positions. The big hits go in, and Louw arrives as the second man who has all rights to the ball.
Eddie Jones told this website last week the best teams will adapt to the new law interpretations, and given the Stormers’ progress and position on the Super 14 log, they fall into the ‘best’ category.
While round six is no time to get excited about title prospects, it is a time to get excited about the rugby to come. The Stormers are scoring tries, but they’re yet to click to the point where you’d place them in the Bulls’ class. The mauling has been terrific, but it’s still a bit of a lottery when the ball goes wide. Against the tougher defensive units, they may not have as many opportunities as they did against the Canes, who could have conceded more than five tries at Newlands.
They won’t find that in the Cheetahs, who’ve leaked three tries a game this season. The Stormers will strive for a clinical performance on attack and produce another stonewall display on defence, but they’ll keep to their structures and systems and keep away from the windgat attitude that’s characterised previous Stormers teams.
They’ve laid a solid foundation, but they need to follow through in every sense, and the pressure to do so has not been released. The first-string are finishing off opponents, and inevitable injuries later in the competition will test the squad’s ability to maintain that effort. For now, the Stormers are on a steady upward curve.
By Jon Cardinelli
70 Comments
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15 Mar 2010, 06:00 am
Don’t put the carriage in front of the Dragons
15 Mar 2010, 06:25 am
Sucsess breeds sucsess, Stormers can go all the way
15 Mar 2010, 06:27 am
@gerhard:
Not going to say it.
15 Mar 2010, 06:33 am
Come on! We’re nowhere near the business end of the 2010 season yet, and the Stormers haven’t flown Down Under yet! Every year they start off as “the best team on paper” and “destined to succeed”.
And for the past 14 or so absoluely unbroken seasons in a row, they’ve never done anything other than flatter to deceive. Even making it as far as the semis is trumpeted as a huge earth-shattering triumph! Not that this happens often!
When this season is eventually wrapped up, 2010 will be no different to 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006… et cetera.
Also ran.
Nice try.
See you later.
15 Mar 2010, 06:37 am
I’m going to copy and paste this comment of yours at the end of the seasons Tackler
15 Mar 2010, 06:41 am
@TheTackler:
Well at least they gave the Hurricanes one up the mud pipe!
15 Mar 2010, 07:02 am
The Canes are exactly the same — the antipodean alter ego of the Stormers.
Great on the team sheet and all the pundits prediction tables; then grim-awful on the end-of-season log standing.
15 Mar 2010, 07:02 am
Stormers have the best chance this year to go all the way. They have the best gamebreakers in the country right now and should ease into forth gear in Australasia before idling into fifth come the semis.
I’m already predicting a Balls vs Brokeback Mountaingoats final at Moftus.
15 Mar 2010, 07:14 am
@TheTackler: Do you actually know anything about rugby? He actually sound stupid!
15 Mar 2010, 07:14 am
He = you
15 Mar 2010, 07:24 am
The Stormers reliably choke — year after year — against the Bulls.
15 Mar 2010, 07:24 am
Imo…THE team to beat this year!
So Brumbies actually did very well….
But seriously – the Stormers looks like the best SA outfit to me on current form.
15 Mar 2010, 07:31 am
The Brumbies might just erupt into form at any stage. They are doing quite well considering how bad their form is…
15 Mar 2010, 07:44 am
Stormers choke and Sharks get robbed by the useless ref.
15 Mar 2010, 07:47 am
Brumbies, Reds and Crusaders are the dark horses of this tournament.
If The Sharks and Lions were horses they’d be shot.
15 Mar 2010, 07:52 am
The Stormers backline has not clicked yet. They have had flashes and are improving. This will come as confidence grows.
They are not running angles and once they click, beware!!
15 Mar 2010, 07:54 am
5 games into the season and people are predicting the Stormers will make the final.
Let’s not get carried away shall we??
15 Mar 2010, 07:55 am
The Stormers really impressed me on the weekend. It was the first time that i actually thought they are good enough to win the tournament. But having said that, their last two rounds of the tournament is extremly tough against the Sharks & The bulls and we all know how SA teams do each other no favours.
15 Mar 2010, 07:59 am
Fact : Bulls will win :
in 2010 :
The Super 14,
The Curry Cup
in 2011 :
The Super 15
The Curry Cup
The World Cup (most Boks are Bulls players)
in 2012 – 2015 :
Super 15
Curry Cup
2016 – 2020
The Super 30
The Julius Malema Freedom Cup
15 Mar 2010, 08:13 am
India wins the Curry Cup.
The Bulls win the Currie Cup.
It’s about as big a difference as that between Window and Widow.
15 Mar 2010, 08:16 am
Ja Koos
Tackler is reg dis Currie Cup
15 Mar 2010, 08:20 am
@TheTackler: very sharp this morning/afternoon Tackles.
15 Mar 2010, 08:24 am
@TheTackler: Who shat in your pap this morning, if you look at the way the Stormers are playing you’ll notice that they are playing a completely different style of rugby. Besides nothing wrong with some healthy optimism.
15 Mar 2010, 08:27 am
Bulls are looking good this year, but conceding plenty of tries.
15 Mar 2010, 08:36 am
@TheTackler: I do believe this time the choke’s gonna be on you Tackles. I watched one of the best defensive displays on (my) record, on saturday evening. They’re also not too shabby on attack either methinks. So I’d be a tad more conservative with my utterances this year my lad. Wouldn’t want you crawling out of here with your tail between your legs now would we?
15 Mar 2010, 08:42 am
before I sidle off to do some work, I want to make one more point(both for Tackles and Tackie). The Stormers still need to play the Bulls(at Newlands). I’ll wager a hundred bucks that the Stormers will take that one. Why? Looks at the the number of tries both team let through on saturday. Two to the Stormers and FIVE(5) to the Bulletjies. I think that is a telling stat. And it wasn’t a one-off either. Its the trend for the season thus far. Always one for a bit of fact behind the speculation.
15 Mar 2010, 08:46 am
@TheTackler: LOL! Funny!
15 Mar 2010, 08:55 am
Well done to the Stormers…
but let’s not get carried away and talk about winning the S14…
one step at a time… first the Cheetahs who will be VERY tough… then the away trip…
aim for the semi’s and take it from there…
was disappointed with the two Hurricane tries… both were soft because the guys were already celebrating… especially the last one… not good enough…
we can’t afford to take our foot off the accelerator for a second… it could cost us a tight game anda semi spot…
15 Mar 2010, 08:56 am
@Predawn: Dont use that name the WP fans get upset when you rip them off
Very sensitive people other side brokeback mountain lol
15 Mar 2010, 08:58 am
@ufo: Be careful about the ‘soft tries’ comment. Bulls back coach said exactly the same thing. Complacency breeds contempt.
15 Mar 2010, 08:59 am
@TASSIES: I will take that bet. Cause you so confident maybe even give me some odds
15 Mar 2010, 08:59 am
@TheTackler: You know Tackler, you never fail to dissapoint me. If you are not moaning about the lack of attention to your Blue Bulls, you are going about your normal Stormers bashing. This is a site for fans, not a site to knock other teams. The Stormers are having their best season for many years but all you can harp on about is how the Stormers are not the real deal. Well, you are wrong. They’ve proved themselves this year to be a class outfit with many of the traditional weaknesses (tight five, defence) much improved. If you had a legitimate point then i could understand, but you simply don’t.
You know, it takes very little to acknowledge the success of others. It doesn’t take anything away from you. Other people’s successes are not your failures Tacitus. Let it go. You’ll be a better man for it.
15 Mar 2010, 09:02 am
@stormersboy: Tackler definately not a Bulls supporter (thank God else I would have to support another team)
15 Mar 2010, 09:03 am
jeez its a long competition this, still plenty of time for some to shine and others to fade.
usually the chiefs only start playing decent rugby around now, and they already have 3 away wins. hurricanes will be better with the comforts of nz. blues have picked up a few wins and can still surprise.
reds no depth, and force a farce. waratahs and brumbies have enough points to be competitive at tail end of competition.
so really i’d write off only lions, sharks, cheetas, force, highlanders and reds as semi contenders.
15 Mar 2010, 09:13 am
I think we need to give some kudos to Coetzee. Yes, I know he has been schooled in the Jake White way of pragmatic rugby, but it seems to work. I would much rather they choose this ‘pragmatic’ way than the crazy pseudo romantic notion adopted by **** Muir at the Lions.
I was one of the first to think that Coetzee did not contribute much to the previous Bok coaching team but he really come into his own since last year.
15 Mar 2010, 09:14 am
Yeah sorry that was my error. I tend to confuse the whining of tacitus with the blatant Stormers bashing of tackler. My apologies to both, but my anti-Stormers part stands.
15 Mar 2010, 09:16 am
@Skywalker: Agreed,AC has stuck to his guns and it’s paying off..unlikely to get kudos till he beats the Bulls
15 Mar 2010, 09:17 am
Defences will win matches, nothing about the bulls defence inspires any confidence, they could be used as a colander.
15 Mar 2010, 09:17 am
@stormersboy: Your post is relevant to both
15 Mar 2010, 09:18 am
@fuzzy: …or a highlite’s cap…:lol:
15 Mar 2010, 09:22 am
Morning fellow Province supporters
Did anyone notice how slow Juan De Jongh seemed when he broke the Hurricane line on Saturday?
He seemed to break clean, ran for 10 meters before being easily hauled in by Canes defenders …
Was he on the wrong foot or perhaps bumped? He just looked slow !
Can anyone comment on his overall speed and off the mark pace?
Shot
Dre ..
15 Mar 2010, 09:24 am
@RugbyRulz:
huh…? how do you relate the two…? Bulls have been letting in plenty of tries… the Stormers very few… Stormers held the Highlanders out the Bulls let them through five times…
not being contemptuous at all… but you can read it that way if you like…
all I’m saying is that the Stormers… despite the article above… did switch off towards they end… and they should make sure they don’t do so again…
the last try in particular they just watched Keats run right through them…
far from being contemptuous… I’m reminding them that IF they want to go further they have to focus for the full 80 minutes… and beyond until the whistle has blown…
15 Mar 2010, 09:29 am
@ufo: I hear what you are saying and in the same vein you could then say that the Bulls have to concentrate for the full 80 mins and not switch off from the word go with all the tries they have leaked ?
15 Mar 2010, 09:31 am
@Storm outta hell: Even if the goats dont beat the bulls which I doubt they will AC deserves praise for taking a looser team to have respect from the other teams.
15 Mar 2010, 09:32 am
@dr dre:
for sure… the Bulls defence is a worry at the moment… they really need to focus on that…
guess they know their attack is so good at the mo they know they’ll simply outscore the other team…
15 Mar 2010, 09:34 am
@Airwell: Stormers stand a very very good chance against the Bulls at Loftus and would in all likelihood win at Newlands.
Lets see what injuries does to both sides as the competition wears on. The Bulls, like the Stormers cannot afford to lose certain key players.
One things for certain, its lekker to see a Bulls vs. WP game where WP are properly competitive (for a change)
15 Mar 2010, 09:35 am
@ufo: Bulls are looking ominous hey …
It has to be said …..as long as an SA team wins this thing – I am happy
Stormers winning – BONUS PLAN.
15 Mar 2010, 09:38 am
@Airwell: I’ll take that.. ’cause Stormers sure are earning respect,just must not go to their heads…and I think AC’s doing a great job at keeping them focussed and level-headed….
Not so worried about Sharkies,we’ve beaten them on the last 3 outings,but Bulls at Newlands shaping up to be a real belter..
Who knows,it might be the difference between a home semi or not..?
15 Mar 2010, 09:48 am
@ufo: (42) You have a point there. I think the style of play that the Stormers play puts them under a bit of pressure in the last 10 minutes as they play a defensive and counter attacking game. This costs a lot of energy, which opens up some gaps at the end. I wouldn’t like to see them carry this type of game into the last 10 minutes of a close encounter, it will put them at a distinct disadvantage.
15 Mar 2010, 09:49 am
@ufo: My post was regarding the SOFT TRIES comment. Both the Stormers and Bulls have spluttered the mantra of the opposition scoring soft tries. The moment you think or dare say, “soft tries,” you assume the aura of complacency. Big mistake.
Smarter to allude to defensive lapses. You start believing the soft tries bs and the complacency sets the rot.
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