The Bulls may not want to know it, but they are the Stormers’ biggest allies on their Super 14 tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Former Stormers coach Kobus van der Merwe believes the Capetonians will benefit from catching each of their opponents on tour every week after they had been involved in a match against the Bulls the week before.
“It’s good for the Stormers to tour after the Bulls as they will be sapping the energy from those teams,” said Van der Merwe.
“When a team has played the Bulls, there will usually be a few injury niggles the following week and players will be unable to train as a result.
“The Stormers will then follow and they will also pose some tough questions.”
The Stormers’ first task on tour is against the Western Force on Friday.
Van der Merwe believes this game will not only be of crucial interest for their tour, but also for the Stormers’ entire campaign.
“The first match holds the key. It’s important to start well so that you don’t land in a downward spiral,” he said.
“You have to aim to perform well in the first few games. The last tour game is always difficult as the players start thinking about going home.”
The Stormers play the Blues in Auckland next week. After that it’s the Chiefs in Hamilton before their last tour game against the Reds in Brisbane.
“The match against the Reds will be difficult. Everybody initially thought that it might be an easy game, but Ewen McKenzie is doing very well as a coach,” said Van der Merwe.
The fact that the Stormers’ last three games in the league phase will be against the Crusaders, Sharks and Bulls, makes success on tour of crucial importance.
“Those are three very important games. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you are under pressure to get 12 or 13 points in the last three league games,” said Van der Merwe.
“The first three games are of vital interest. If you lose in Perth and travel to Auckland after that, the pressure builds.”
Van der Merwe predicts a Stormers victory on Friday.
“They have too much for the Force up front and at the back. They put a lot of pressure on opponents and exploit their mistakes very well.”
Van der Merwe believes the experience in the Stormers’ ranks, their powerful pack of forwards, Schalk Burger’s leadership, intelligent contracting and good management by senior staff has contributed to the team’s success thus far.
“The team is older, with guys like Pieter Louw, Francois Louw, Joe Pietersen, Gio Aplon and Andries Bekker now all more experienced,” said Van der Merwe.
“You can also see that it is a pack coached by a front-ranker (Matthew Proudfoot).
“As captain Schalk has also managed to rally the players around him.
“Western Province bought well, with guys like Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie coming on board. You suddenly have six or seven key players that are decision-makers and young guys coming into their own around them.
“It’s a well-oiled machine, but still has to be kept on course. Here Allister Coetzee (head coach) and Rassie Erasmus (director of coaching) deserve a lot of credit.”
Sorry mr Van, the Force is forcing upwards, they play better every week. Hope the Storm can beat the Force , a real battle of hot air. 😀
I doubt that the Force will beat them, but thanks van, now i can say this to my Stormer mates if they crush the Force.
“remember we softened them up for you”
Just like they said earlier this season.
I am a little worried about the Stormers. Looking at their S14 thus far they have won against the Cheetahs, Lions, Highlanders, Hurricanes and Waratahs. The Canes lost against all 4 SA sides. The Stormers have good defence and are playing better (more competitive) at the breakdowns compared to previous years but their backline play still lacks structure an enterprise. The best tries they scoered thus far was against the Canes where they targeted David Smith’s weak defence on the blindside with big Navaqaluki with numbers in support. I don’t think Peter Grant has the ability to dictate and I have my doubt whether they will be able to scrape (create) a win against a team which dominate them at the breakdowns. If the Force play like they played against the Bulls the stormers might get unstuck and they are going to struggle against the Reds, Crusaders and the Bulls. They certainly are going to need all the help they can get; I’ll be surprised if they make the semi’s.
There are only two SA teams that realisticly have a chance of reaching the semi’s, and i truly hope they both do. Two wins out of four should get both of them there.
Remember that both teams need to play the Sharks, and they are on the up, so make sure you win a lot overseas.
Hhhhm Snoek, the Bulls are the Sharks Bogey Team 😉
Morning all you RT 😀 😀
Every team is the sharkies bogey team at the moment…. lol
6 – Hello BLboerSN, Have not seen you here before, welcome.
Yes this is to you and Tripples
Hey!! Sharks could spring a surprise on the big teams..hehehe.
Well think we have all said this the past few weeks. Stormers and Bulls play all the same team on tour and yes, the bonus there for Stormers, is that Bulls play them first. Will be a good thing for Stormers. See what went right and wrong for the Bulls in their games and just fine tune their game. Bulls will also soften them up for Stormers… 😀
Good to see two saffa sides on top of the log. Would be really great to have two in the semi. Stormers and Bulls have all the chance now of doing just that.
Puma,
Thanks
I am new on the site..
I hope your Sharkies beat the Reds….
Do you think the Sharkies will make the Semi?
9 BLboerSN, NO don’t think Sharks will make the semi. Far, far too tough for us. Will have to win all our games maybe pick up some bonus points and hope like crazy some start to lose on the top.. Nah, that will never ever happen. Just hoping we can help out our brothers (Stormers and Bulls) by beating Reds and Blues.
If one is use this reasoning then the Waratahs is the biggest allies of the Bulls. The Waratahs played the Force and the Blues the week before the Bulls did, and the Waratahs is no easy team to lay as well.
11 – dWeePer……….hahahah. Spot on… 😉
This week they play Cheetahs, so no help there 😉
12 – Cause Bulls have already played Cheetahs.. 😉
Hello fellow rugby-mad citizens of Mother Earth.
Oh, and a very warm welcome to McLook, whose Historical Articles on the All Blacks have given us some very fine reading material to read… a good trip down memory lane.
Welcme to BLboerSN as well, was wondering when you would start blogging.
Thanks GBsmile.
McLook i missed you by a few minutes, welcome, hope you enjoy this place and make it your preferred blog site.
2 – McLook, Really good to have you here and blog with us. Enjoy your articles that Super is putting up for us every Tuesday. Good stuff. Do you have any of the ABs 1976 tour here?
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