Allister Coetzee
An elated DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee heaped the praise on his coaching team and all the players in the aftermath of their excellent 32 / 18 Vodacom Super Rugby win over the defending champion Waratahs earlier today.
The DHL Stormers overturned a 13 / 15 half-time deficit to record their 1st tour win of 2015 against the reigning champs – also scoring 4 tries in the process in Sydney.
I’m really, really happy,” Coetzee told the www.iamastormer.com website from Coogee on Saturday night.
“The players were really determined to register this win and it was a massive performance from everyone… the guys really stepped up to the next level to beat the reigning champions (at home) and to also score 4 tries.
“It was a 23-man squad effort and credit must go to all the players and all the coaches for all the work that went in this past week,” added the DHL Stormers boss.
“All our plans came together on the night, the bench worked well – all the players that came on made an impact. It’s something we needed against a physical Waratahs team and (also) in our 3rd week on tour.”
The DHL Stormers went down 20 / 25 to the table-topping Hurricanes last weekend and Coetzee believes the confidence from their 2nd-half showing in Wellington helped the team pull it through against the ‘Tahs.
He said: “I said last week we were heading in the right direction and the belief in this team, despite having 1 Log point to show for our efforts until tonight, has always been there.
“I thought our balance was spot on today – our kicking game was excellent and we put in a huge defensive effort. We also capitalised on that defensive effort and utilised any turnover possession in scoring our 4 tries.”
Flanker Michael Rhodes (hamstring) is the major injury worry for the DHL Stormers after limping off in the 33rd minute against the ‘Tahs, whilst flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis took a blow to the head and was replaced at the start of the 2nd half.
“Demetri was a bit uncomfortable, so we didn’t want to risk him,” said Coetzee. “But the big worry for us, after a very physical match, is Mike Rhodes who has done his hamstring – he might be on his way home.”
Coetzee continued: “Like I said, we backed our bench during this match – it was our intention all week – and it worked well for us.
“We will have some sore bodies after this match, so our 1st intention is to field a strong and fit team against the Force next week. We need to continue improving, as we have on this tour, and will keep our feet on the ground and keep working hard in our final week.”
The DHL Stormers will finish their 4-match tour of Australasia against the Western Force at Perth’s nib Stadium next Saturday (kick-off 19:45 AWST, 13:45 SA Time).
@ MacroBull:
The fact that Peter Grant and Deon Fourie are no longer around is also working in their favour.
@ robzim:
Damien has been great at 12 this year, but he was the standout player for the Stormers at the wing as well last year, personally I would not mind if he winged it for the boks, we are really missing an abrasive type winger… If we had to
Bekker used to stand at center and break all the momentum when the stormers had an attacking opportunity, as well as Harris and Kitskos it was like there was no cohesion between the forwards or backline players… this year it seems like they finally decided. “Forwards, this is your job”, “backline this is your”… with mixed success though if we remember the games against the Kiwi’s.
… and the Blues don’t count 😆
MacroBull wrote:
Fetchers again?
It is a moot point whether combined log position 6 is indicative of “doing well”, but assuming for the moment that it is so, which of the 5 teams currently doing better than the Stormers normally play without a fetcher?
Interesting too, although it may or may not have been the cause for the change in fortunes, the down & out Blues played 2 fetchers on Saturday and earned their 1st victory of the season against the then high flying Brumbies. Resorting to the unusual (overkill?) strategy of playing 2 fetchers “in the modern game” (like SA’s Lions often do, & the Wallabies sometimes did in the days of George Smith & Phil Waugh) certainly did not hinder the Blues’ quest for victory.
@ Angostura:
Opensiders not “fetchers”… Opensiders that dominate tackle stats.
Brussouw was awesone this weekend. Not because he made 1 turnover but because as an opensider he made 21 tackles… Amazing
Stegman made 17 tackles.
Sean mcmahon, steggies, hooper, tecklenberg, marcel coetzee are in the top ten so far.
Stormers are also done with the nz teams who would easiky exploit their backline weaknesses and with 5 home games… I hate to admit but things are looking good for them even wth 5 teams ahead of them at this stage… Without a “fetcher”.
154 @ Angostura:
Macrobull does not believe in the Openside Flanker being a “True Fetcher” type of player… and he’s welcome to his way of thinking, even though he tries to force it down our throats at every opportunity… hehehe
The fact that certain teams tend to play with hybrid-type Openside flanks and doing well with it, seems to be his sole argument.
I agree with you though, as I still value the traditional opensider’s role.
It is my opinion that when you do not have a traditional openside “Fetcher Flank”, one is forced to contrive and to change some other player roles quite dramatically too… like for instance instructing your hookers and sometimes props or centres, to concentrate harder on becomming or fullfilling that extra special task, to make up for the fetcher shortcoming.
The fact that all players have in recent years had the obligation to also try and poach ball and “fetch” to a certain extent is further fuel on the fires of those who do not believe in the “True Fetcher” role.
This past Saturday saw Brussow putting in a mighty 21 tackles on his own, apart from doing well at the breakdowns and harrying opposition ball…. and the Cheetahs won
Like you also say, the Blues suddenly played 2 Fetchers against the Brumbies and won…
Anyway, we’re never all going to agree on the aspect of fetchers or not, and we are bound to occupy different schools of thought… so be it.
@ grootblousmile:
I prefer the term “tackler” for an open sider as i believe everyone in the teams needs to be a “fetcher”. Semantics 😀
Also the blues wont go on a match winning streak with two fetchers will they?
Opensiders that get around the park is what matters. The term “fetcher” irks me, especially since the bulls were so crap last year, it was not that we didnt have a fetcher it was because our tactics were kak… In turn there is no conplaints from mallet and the kenners for the stormers playing without a fetcher…
The biggest mistake ludeke made was attempting to turn ross into a fetcher because of public pressure… Whenbthe bulls would have been better off playing a player with his known strengths.
@ MacroBull:
Well everyone needs to be a tackler as well!
MacroBull wrote:
Agreed… and imo nobody was better in that role as the incomparable Josh Kronfeldt.
Opensiders vs. Fetchers, imo really a case of semantics, coz fetching is a core part of the opensider’s duties:
And “fetching” (anticipating play & playing towards the ball, causing/contributing to a breakdown, & then turning over or slowing down opposition ball) is one of the core tasks of the opensider/fetcher flank. Some are simply better than others at performing this task. In this (imo, proper) sense, fetching includes a great deal of tackling or of assisting the tackler. Locally Brussow is a good example of a fetcher, Coetsee is a manufactured hybrid opensider/fetcher (OK, but not ideal), & Elstadt is not at all an opensider/fetcher (nor was Ross).
But why are we even debating this? We don’t have to reinvent the wheel: The leading SR franchises & the #1 national rugby team in the world all play proper specialist opensiders, not Elstadt-type flankers in the openside position. The example set by the top teams should surely be the way to go, one would think?
@ Angostura:
Specialist opensiders that tackle a lot, while they get credit for being “fetchers” that responsibility falls on the entire team and is not designated to A player. Everyone should “anticipate play”, and this responsibility is increasingly falling on the No.8 as well.
Hooper for example is awesome opensider…not a “fetcher”, because he tackles a lot (7th most), and has to ability to beat defenders.
While Sam cane has a tackle success rate of 97.4%
Matt Todd has only made 2 turnovers this year
Why can’t a guy like Elstadt not do that successfully?
Ritchee McCaw, is he in form?
Few will tend to agree and there has been claims he is over the hill, while he is in the top 8 for turnovers won, so he is one of the top “fetchers” in the competition? …but a tackle success rate of 79% … so is he one of the form opensider (fetchers)?
Open siders should have an all round ability @ robzim:
awesome highlights reel, Kronfield was a great player, those support lines he was running on attack… wow he was everywhere.
Warwick Tecklenburg playing at 7 has played the role of an opensider (hybrid) superbly… Not so easy to look past Whitely was has been spectacular, but this bloke is having an unbelievable season, he is consistently aware of the players around him when he has the ball.
MacroBull wrote:
I’m with you on that one, I think Elstadt will most likely succeed in making 2 turnovers in a year 😀
@ Angostura:
I also think the roles of the loose trio has merged, in the Read, Kaino, McCaw prime it is like each one could do anything… get turnovers, score tries, make yard, run support lines, defend like demons… and you want to compare to the All blacks, all 3 seems to be a lineout options as well.
Well Elstadt made one turnover in his first game, so by now would maybe have 4 or 5 😆
MacroBull wrote:
Tecklenburg was an opensider when he arrived at the Lions from the Bulls, & he is still an opensider, not a hybrid, even though the Lions mostly play him in a tighter, (SA) No7 position, probably because they have 4 SR-quality opensiders on their books …
Angostura wrote:
AC would kill to have Elstadt available for the rest of the season…. his physicality and abrasiveness will count for much more than a turnover or two especially in the big derbies coming up against the other local teams.
OK, ciao MB – gotta go on home
Anyway, my point is that I wont Select a guy like Elstadt or Kolisi for the boks if I had Coetsee or Flo or Brussouw available… I just think that if you don’t have a super awesome hybrid opensider that will make an impact, dont select someone just because they were a fetcher, pick someone that will make an impact like Elstadt.
And it all originated because Mallet and kenners were upset last year because the Bulls were not playing a “fetcher”, which is ridiculous (imho), it dominated post match discussions and well and was a common theme, as if it was the cause of all of our problems (or at least a big part)… It was not!
robzim wrote:
That may be so, but there is imo not enough speed to the breakdown in a trio of Elstadt, Vermeulen & Burger/Rhodes/Kolisi
Where’s Jack Russell gas man?
{Out}
168 @ Angostura:
Tecklenberg is a hybrid, he combines a major defender, a “fetcher”, and a ball carrier in one player… that is basically the definition of a hybrid opensider… although he is playing on the blind side… which interweaves with my point that the roles of the loose trio has pretty much been divided up… If you compare to the All Blacks, where they basically compete for the most turnovers, tackles and meters gained every game.
@ Angostura:
Cheers Angos
@ MacroBull:
merged, not divided up*
175 @ MacroBull:
I suppose we differ only on what a traditional “Fetcher Flank” is.
If your definition of a “Fetcher” is that he attempts to steal every breakdown ball and that’s about where it ends, then know quite clearly that THAT is not what my definition of a “Fetcher” is.
To me a Fetcher Flank is an openside flanker who plays TOWARDS THE BALL, who gets to the BREAKDOWNS FAST, who has a very HIGH WORKRATE towards the ball, who by the nature of it that he plays towards the ball has to TACKLE effectively a hell of a lot, who most often has a SHORTER STATURE BUT STRONG UPPERBODY so he can be even better in groundball situations, who DOES NOT STAND OFF AT RUCKS & MAULS but is always right in there where the action is, who FRUSTRATES OPPOSITION QUALITY BALL and speed onto ball, who has a good go at STEALING / TURNING OVER opposition ball.
Dis daai korter harde bliksempie wat blerrie baie soos ‘n haker lyk, maar langs die kant van die skrum is en die bal jaag.
Hookers and Openside fetchers are almost peas in a pod, with the same type of quality and attitude but they differ in what their primary functions are (Hookers cannot generally get to breakdowns as fast as an opensider, simply because he is in the middle of the middle of a scrum, whereas Opensiders obviously do not hook the ball or feed the lineout.
We’ve so often seen successful transformations from Opensider to Hooker and the other way around.
To me, Heinrich Brussow, Deon Stegmann, Marcell Coetzee, Warwick Tecklenburg, Jaco Kriel, Michael Hooper, Matt Todd, Richie McCaw and a number of others are THAT type of player.
To me that is vastly different from your Traditional No 8 or your traditional Blindside flanker.
@ grootblousmile:
Duane Vermeulen could then EASILY fulfill the role of an “opensider”
Maybe not pre 2014 till Read almost revolutionized 8th man play to be more than a link with the forwards and the backs, since then Duane could fulfill all roles in the loose trio with success.
maybe its the traditional fetcher flank… but lately team structure their defensive lines so that the role of a fetcher is not on one players shoulder but on the player closest to the ball, whether it is Bryan Habana, Coenie Oosthuizen, Malakai Fekitoa or Derrick Hougaard, all good “fetchers”…
Again if i had those players available then I would select them on the openside, but if i do not have that quality available, the next best blindsider is not a bad option.
WP did it in the Currie Cup final and won.
MacroBull wrote:
They had to change this year, they lacked Brok, the original Prop-Half. 😛
Without him as playmaker the game plan didn’t work
derrick hougaard 😆 Francois Hougaard
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