On the weekend, the battling Stormers had reason to smile again after they returned to winning ways against the Lions.

Allister Coetzee, head coach declared he was happy with the win.

Jean de Villiers revealed he defied instructions from the coach to play defensive when they had a 15-point lead.

Schalk Burger and Oli Kebble will be back this weekend, returning from injury, while Pat Cilliers and Demetri Catrakilis is sidelined with injuries.

Allister Coetzee happy:

SuperSport reports that the Stormers took advantage of a depleted Lions side to notch up only their second Super Rugby win in eight matches at Newlands on Saturday evening.

The match was riddled with errors but the Lions were made to pay far more dearly, especially during a first-half passage of play when the Stormers were reduced to 14 men, after hooker Deon Fourie was sin-binned for shoulder charging an opposition player who was well off the ball.

The Stormers stuttered to an eventual 18-3 win after failing to add to their match winning first-half 18-point haul and the victory will come as a relief for the team’s beleaguered coaching staff who have copped so much flak for the team under-performing week in and week out this season.

Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee admitted that much at the post-match media conference.

“I am very satisfied with this win and the players showed great attitude,” said Coetzee.

“The intensity was there, especially in the first 40 minutes and we went on to score two outstanding tries.

Coetzee tempered his delight by saying he was concerned by his players’ lack of discipline on occasions.

“I’m not happy with the (our) discipline in general,” said the coach.

“There are things that are inexcusable, and I’m talking about the off-the-ball stuff.”

The Stormers were forced to reshuffle their backline after flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis was forced to retire from the match in the third minute.

“Fortunately we had Peter Grant and (substitute) Jaco (Taute) really played well when he came on so it did not prove too disruptive. We could see Peter is not quite back to his best with place-kicking but he’ll get there.”

Lions coach Johan Ackermann felt his team, stung by two pre-match withdrawals, made costly mistakes. On Saturday morning, captain Warren Whiteley failed a fitness test and lock Martin Muller was laid low by a stomach bug. Substitutes Willie Britz and Luvuyiso Lusaseni were moved into the run-on XV. Their places on the bench were taken by Warwick Tecklenburg and Rudi Matthee who flew in from Johannesburg about an hour or so before kick-off.

“This week we were forced into many changes because of injuries and then we had two more before the start of the match,” said Ackerman.

“Our character was really tested and when you saw how we played in the second half – you could see we did not roll over and die.

“It was a funny game. We played well in stages and we left many (scoring) opportunities out there.”

Ackermann said the injury crisis is something that the Lions will have to cope with, especially when they head off on the Australasia tour in a week’s time.

“There is no quick-fix for the Lions,” said Ackermann.

“We’ll just have to front up on tour even though it will be a ‘first’ (tour) for many of our players.”

Jean de Villiers defied instructions:

Rugby 365 reports that Jean de Villiers has revealed that he kept his team playing with ball-in-hand all the way to the end of game against the Lions, despite the coaches advice.

The Stormers captain was thinking what was best for the team going forward when he decided not to play defensively or resort to a tactical kicking game in the last 15 minutes of the Stormers 18-3 victory over the Lions.

The coaches box sent calls down to the field that the end of the game should be carefully managed and played down in opposition territory in order to hold out for the much needed win.

The Stormers have been suffering from a lack of confidence and it was De Villiers desire to get his team comfortable with the ball again – even though they rounded out the second half with zero points.

De Villiers has said, even though he made the call to continue attacking the Lions with a 15 point lead, it was not something that would have been wise in all situations.

The 15 point gap was the primary reason for De Villiers decision to defy his coaches orders, but he has admitted that, in terms of game management, it was detrimental – but in terms of turning the corner for the Stormers, it was vital.

“I think our approach was definitely to keep on playing, to our own detriment, in the second half,” De Villiers said.

“We probably played too much rugby in our own half in that second half and didn’t manage to play enough rugby in their half.

“The calls came from the coaching box that we should try and play more of a kicking game in their half for the last 15 minutes or so.

“I sort of over ruled that in a way – I thought that we should go with this approach so we sort of continued with it.

“In a tighter game I wouldn’t have done it but just with the attitude towards this game I though we should continue with ball in hand.

“We should try and get the confidence back and I don’t think we will get the confidence back by just sitting down and playing a conservative game.

“From a game management point of view, probably not the right call but I thought from where we are as a team it was the right call.”

De Villiers, although happy with his teams performance and intensity was quick to echo coach Allister Coetzees words on discipline.

The captain backed up what his coach had to say: “I have to agree with Allister [Coetzee], I don’t think our discipline is good enough.

“It is some thing we need to improve on – when you have got an 18 and 15 point buffer then you can still get away with it but that has been the cause of a lot of our losses this season.

“It is not improving so it is definitely an area we need to look at,” concluded De Villiers.

Schalla back:

Rugby365 also reports that the Stormers look set to receive a timely boost ahead of their Super Rugby showdown with the Cheetahs.

Springbok veteran Schalk Burger and rookie prop Oliver Kebble are available for selection for the trip to Bloemfontein on Saturday.

On the flipside there is Bok prop Pat Cilliers and flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis, who have both been ruled out.

Cilliers (right knee) saw a specialist on Monday and he has a meniscus tear.

Coach Allister Coetzee said that if the front row forward requires surgery he could be out of action for five to six weeks.

Catrakilis suffered a fractured nose early in the encounter with the Lions.

Both Kebble and Burger missed this past weekend’s 18-3 win over the Lions, but the loss of Cilliers and Catrakilis is a blow for the Cape side.

Frans Malherbe and Sailosi Tagicakibau sat out training on Monday, whilst senior men Duane Vermeulen and Jean de Villiers did their flush-out in the morning and sat out the afternoon session.

Prop Malherbe, who was sick in bed at home, Vermeulen (No.8) and De Villiers (centre) are not in any doubt for the Cheetahs clash.

Other players still on the injury list include hooker Siyabonga Ntubeni (calf muscle), wings Kobus van Wyk (abductor muscle) and Cheslin Kolbe (knee) – all who will be given one more training session to prove their fitness.

“There are a few positives [injury-wise], but – as a coach – you’re never happy with your injury list,” Coetzee said.

“You always want it [the injury list] to be as short as possible. Injuries are always challenging, but it’s part of the game and you need to make your plans accordingly.