Stormers 41 (54) vs Western Force 0 (12) warm up game – Game thread & match summary

Published 23 January 2010 | By Isigidi

The Stormers played the Western Force at Newlands today in their 1st warm-up match for the 2010 Super 14. This is the thread for discussion of the game and gives you the match summary and some photo’s from the event.

Both Isigidi and KingPaul attended the game and post match conference and we were lucky enough that they gave us the live scores as the match unfolded…

Scores:

Stormers: 2 Tries & 4 Conversions & 2 Penalty Joe Petersen, 1 Try Andries Bekker, 1 Try Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Try & 1 Conversion & 1 Penalty Peter Grant, 1 Try Bryan Habana (1st in Stormers gear), 1 Try JJ Engelbrecht

Western Force: 1 Try Joelin Rapana, 1 try Mark Swanepoel, 1 Conversion Mark Bartholomeusz

 

The Stormers beat the Western Force by 54 to 12 in the game at Newlands in front of 18000 fans.

It was clear from the start that Alistair Coetzee and John Mitchell were following very different strategies in their build up to the Super 14. The Stormers chose their strongest team available to start, whereas the Western Force decided to give the youngsters a run and opted to introduce their big guns in the last 20 minutes.

John Mitchell, head coach of the Force, in the media conference after the game, said that the game always was about the last 20 minutes, and that the score line was never an issue. This sentiment was echoed by Alistair Coetzee, Stormers head coach, who said that they wanted to start the game with a full strength team to build momentum leading into the super 14, and the first game against the Lions in Johannesburg, rather than to win with a big score.

After leading 41-0 at half time, the second half score was 13-12 for the Stormers, which is an indication of how the game changed when the Force sent on the big guns, and the Stormers brought out the youngsters.

Coetzee however, said that he was very happy with the game and the preparation, although he identified areas of concern. The Stormers’ discipline at the rucks and malls were disappointing, with the penalty count heaving heavily towards the Force at one stage.

Coetzee reiterated that he will again choose his strongest side to play the Sharks, while Mitchell said that he would start with a stronger side Tuesday when facing the Sharks at Newlands. Mitchell confirmed that Andre Pretorius will start on Tuesday.

The 2 new men at the Stormers, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana seems to have settled very quickly in the backline, and Fourie was pivotal in all the tries scored by the backline.

To single out players would be senseless in a warm up game where such different approaches were followed, but Joe Petersen caught the eye. Conrad Jantjes will be available for selection in 6 weeks time, but will certainly struggle to match an in form Petersen.

The big win by the Stormers will certainly go a long way in building confidence, while I think John Mitchell is not the happy man he pretended to be at the news conference.

The real challenge however will be against the Sharks for both teams, especially for the Stormers where no inch is given in local derbies.

 

Photo’s courtecy of Isigidi

 

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