Cape Town – The Stormers believe the Bulls are clear favourites for Saturday’s Super 14 final at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, but they don’t plan on settling for second. Stormers coach Allister Coetzee likened the challenge awaiting his side to that of an Olympic athlete.
”Some go to compete and are content to run in the finals. Others go to win the finals, to win gold and break records,” Coetzee said. ”This Stormers side have a lot of respect for the Bulls. They are the best team in the southern hemisphere. But you go not just to run the race. We’re going to win.”
Stormers captain Schalk Burger shared Coetzee’s respect for the Bulls, who booked their ticket to the final with a 39-24 win against the Crusaders, also at Orlando Stadium. But he was more subtle in refusing to discount his side’s chances.
Likening the Stormers to a road-racing cyclist in the peloton preparing to launch a winning move, the blindside flanker said: ”The Bulls have been the pacesetters and we have slipped behind them in the slipstream. I think they are arguably the most experienced side in this competition.”
There is no doubt the Bulls and Stormers are the best two teams in the competition this year. And the timing of their qualification for Saturday’s all-South African title decider has been welcomed here as the perfect finale to the Super 14 season before the FIFA World Cup gets under way.
Not that Waratahs captain Phil Waugh shared the joy of the locals. When asked who he thought would win, he said: ”Not that concerned, to be honest.”
There was a brief silence after Waugh replied, but it didn’t take long for banter about the top-billing Bulls-Stormers clash to resume.
This is the first time the Stormers have made a Super final, after they lost the 1999 and 2004 semi-finals, and they realise that the Bulls side they will face in Soweto will be different to the B team they beat in round 14, when coach Frans Ludeke opted to rest 14 of his top players.
”The Bulls have played in a lot of finals and know how to win them,” Burger said. ”They’ve been the pacesetters in both the Super 14 and Currie Cup for some time. They’ve dominated opposing teams, but we are getting there.
”We have a solid set-piece, a fantastic kicking game and there’s something special about our ball-in-hand approach in the back line.
”The decision-making on when to kick and when to run has also impressed. I’ll have to look at why our scrum was reset so many times against the Waratahs. Other than that, I’ve been pleased with the way the guys have handled the pressure.”
Coutesy of sport24
Ja, ek ook eers weg.
Cheers almal.
Apologies to shadow. I didn’t mean it bru. Its just the bias blue bull rankings that got to me
I take back all the hurtful comments about shadow it wasn’t true.
I think Allisters words were misrepresented in the title. Its not a matter of “We will win”, but more of “We are not going all the way there to lose.” And this makes a huge difference in the approach.
Yet its time for Allister and Schalk to start talking up their chances a bit more.
Of course no team will go to a final with the attitude of “we might make it, but we are just happy to be here.” That mentality doesn’t really work.
And of course no respectable team will go out and say “We don’t care, we are going to win anyway”, that’s just arrogant (Unless of course you are Victor Matfield and you refer to the 7 time champs the Crusaders).
But I think there is nothing wrong with the Stormers camp making statements like “Our chances are as good as theirs” and “We haven’t played the Bulls, but they haven’t really played us either” or “We both lost games this year. Both teams can be beaten. And we are looking forward not to get beaten again this season.”
I mean kom nou regtig. The diplomatic gloves can come of for a change.
Yes the blue bulls in the passed also was full of it and they learned a hard lesson don’t win a game before you have played it. A game is 80 min and the bulls have shown that they are the only team that CAN come back from behind so let wait til the end of the game. Two team in the final GREAT FOR SA RUGBY
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