The DHL Stormers’ 15-25 Vodacom Super Rugby loss to the Brumbies in Canberra was a bitter pill to swallow for head coach Allister Coetzee on Saturday.
The men from Cape Town conceded a last-minute penalty try to the Brumbies to miss out on a losing bonus point as they suffered a third tour defeat in the process.
Speaking to the www.iamastormer.com website from his team’s base in Canberra afterwards, Coetzee said: “This is definitely a bitter pill to swallow for us, even more disappointing than the losses to the Crusaders and the Chiefs.
“It’s frustrating as we’re our own worst enemies at the moment. Individual errors and poor decision-making at key moments continue to cost us,” he added.
“But we’re not about to give up. I’ve said it before, no DHL Stormers team will ever give up and we will be putting everything into securing a win in our final tour game next week (against the Reds).”
The DHL Stormers lost by one point to the Crusaders two weeks ago, conceding a late penalty goal to go down 13-14, and last weekend they were trailing the Chiefs by four points (20-24) before conceding two late tries to miss out on a losing bonus point (as they lost 20-36).
“It’s the third week in a row that we’ve not stuck to the plan in closing a game out,” said Coetzee. “It’s a lack of composure in pressure situations, but hopefully we’ve finally learnt our lesson.”
The team also suffered a blow shortly before today’s clash against the Brumbies when veteran flanker Schalk Burger was forced to withdraw with a torn quad muscle.
To make matters worse, Burger – boasting 91 Super Rugby caps – will head back to South Africa on Sunday.
“It’s always a big loss losing a player at the 11th hour – especially someone of Schalk’s calibre,” said Coetzee. “But we’re fortunate to be able to call upon someone like Siya Kolisi, who is of course a Springbok himself, and then there’s also a quality player like Nizaam Carr in the mix too.
“Schalk will head home,” added Coetzee, “and we will call up a lock replacement as Jurie van Vuuren, who made his Super Rugby today, is (first and foremost) a flanker and can provide additional loose forward cover in Schalk’s absence.”
An announcement on Burger’s replacement will be made on Monday, either by flying in a lock from within the union or outside the Stormers region, whilst Coetzee also confirmed that Kolisi (who took a slight knock to his head) and fullback Gio Aplon (knee) would be fit for next week’s clash against the Reds.
A call on the fitness of Jaco Taute – who missed today’s match with a shoulder injury (AC Joint) – will be made next week.
“The other positive was the return to action of Juan de Jongh,” Coetzee told the official DHL Stormers website.
“Juan looked very sharp when he came on, despite limited game time for him this year, and it adds crucial depth to our backline with one week left on tour.”
“It’s the third week in a row that we’ve not stuck to the plan in closing a game out,” said Coetzee. “It’s a lack of composure in pressure situations, but hopefully we’ve finally learnt our lesson.”
Has anyone told you your plan is kak?
Summed up by Schalk during his interview with Gregan when he said ” if we put pressure on the penalties will come”
NOT if we put pressure on we can score tries.
Ai Mr Coetzee!!!
Just look at the scoreboard – stop the talk and start walking it… Talk is mos cheap…
I have no words for the poor Stormers supporters, it looks like it will be another “next year” for you guys.
But lets face it by scoring the fewest tries almost every year you have nothing to defend.
Can AC count.
Can anyone gift him a calculator.
The Springbok Sevens side gave their all, but it wasn’t enough as they lost out in the dying seconds of an epic Tokyo Sevens final, losing 33-26 to Sevens magicians Fiji.
With the scoreline tied at 26-all, and seconds left on the clock, Fiji produced an amazing try, getting the ball wide courtesy of an overhead flick on by Pio Tuwai to Waisea Nacuqu with the speedster outstripping the defence to score from 60 metres out.
But while there was disappointment, the result meant that the Blitzbokke moved to the top of the HSBC Sevens World Series table, leapfrogging defending world champions New Zealand to lead by two points with three tournaments to play.
Scores are lower this year
stormers put up a wee bit more than 15 points on the board and try and defend that, how long will it take to realize that it is actually easy to get 14 points in 3 minutes?
It is all part of WPRU’s master plan to avoid having to move to Cape Town stadium. No-one wants a losing team as your marquee tenant right? 🙂
In all seriousness we have a terrible gameplan that revolves around attrition. The problem with that is as you grind the opposition they grind you back. A single team playing that style against 14 other teams will always struggle with injuries and fatigue. Those two combined make you stupid on the field.
We’re a few seasons past being due for a new coach. Please please can we get one now?
Sharks won every game where they scored 20 or more points
they scored less than 20 against the Bulls
lees AC
Cheetahs conceded 4 bonus points in 4 games vs overseas based teams , gifting 5 log points per game.
Tries 13:23
Stormers
Tries 7:11
I hope AC realized that whoever refs the game this weekend will back the reds 65%.
Hopefully AC could start his excuses essay on monday so it can be done post match.
Nortierd @ 1
The guy expresses himself pretty well in the interview!
In contrast, When you listen to his live interviews he isn’t that fluent which derives a conclusion the interview was actually compiled by the team’s PR?
Are we arguing with the Stormers PR here?
@ superBul:
When AC served as JW ‘s assistant rumors were rife that he was completely illiterate, everything was communicated verbally
just unverified rumors though,,,,,,
@ Hondo:
Well i was one of the biggest haters of AC and Gary glitter
Seems Coetzee may not have to stomach the Stormers for too much longer:
http://www.sarugbymag.co.za/blog/details/venter-is-stormers-best-option
Toetie se tottie man, getting gatvol of him…
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