The DHL Stormers are up against the Toyota Cheetahs on the weekend, after narrowly beating the Vodacom Bulls this past weekend. They will be feeling the pinch of a bad run of lineout steals against them by the Bulls, but they have laid down a serious marker in beating the Bulls and again going Top of the South African Confernce, from where they have an excellent chance of winning the Conference.

They want to show serious intent on attack against the Cheetahs and score some tries, a thing which has been worryingly few and far between.

A number of their key players have stepped up nicely in 2015, none more so probably than Damian de Allende, who is being touted as the logical Springbok inside centre option at the Rugby World Cup, should Jean de Villiers not recover properly in time for the big showpiece. Duane Vermeulen is another key Stormers player and captain, and it appears that he is somewhat frustrated by the enforced Springbok rest schedule, agreed to between SARU, Springbok Management and the South African Super Rugby franchises.

Lineout worries:

If the Stormers were in any danger of complacency for their Super Rugby clash with the out-of-contention Cheetahs at Free State Stadium on Saturday (17:05 SA Time), a glance at the contrasting lineout statistics of the 2 teams should snap them out of it.

Whilst the Cape side, back as leaders of the SA conference, will be fairly strong favourites on paper to win against the bottom-placed outfit, they will know that this key set-piece needs substantial improvement.

It let them down again, for the most part, in their nail-biting 15 / 13 triumph over the Vodacom Bulls at Newlands, and would have contributed to their tumble to joint 2nd-worst lineout team statistically in the competition with the Blues.

If the figures are to be believed, both the Stormers & Blues have a success percentage right now of 81.3%, only the Melbourne Rebels are worse at 75.7%.

It is a surprising state of affairs when you consider that the Stormers have such known, gifted individual jumpers as Eben Etzebeth (albeit set for a Bok-enforced rest this weekend), Ruan Botha and Duane Vermeulen.

But synergy between catcher and thrower is a big part of the business and the Capetonians have sometimes seemed to get the timing all wrong – whether the hooker hurling the ball in has been Scarra Ntubeni or Bongi Mbonambi.

There is talk of fit-again, seasoned Argentinean international Manny Carizza returning to the 2nd row for the Bloemfontein game to help stabilise the lineout in the No 5 jersey.

Not helping the Stormers’ prospects for this weekend, perhaps, is that the Cheetahs, by contrast, have been dining out rather well lineout-wise despite their lowly overall log position of 12th.

They are the best-performing SA side statistically, with a success percentage of 89% in the phase, placing them 3rd overall behind only the Brumbies (91.1%) and Reds (90.2%).

Individually, the Cheetahs boast 2 Top-tenners for lineout grabs, in the form of skipper Francois Uys (37, and 2nd spot to the Brumbies’ Sam Carter on 43), and lanky Carl Wegner (28), who sneaks into 10th berth itself.

It is a satisfying state of affairs for the Free Staters, considering the long-term injury to Springbok lock Lood de Jager, who would normally be one of their bankers.

In terms of scrummaging, though, it is a different story, with the Stormers among the Top 4 overall for success rate there (91%) and coming off a crucially dominant showing against the Bulls.

Here the Cheetahs’ plight more accurately fits in with their lowly log position, as their scrum is the worst of the 15 in Super Rugby with a success rate of 80%.

Stormers Intent:

On Saturday the Stormers will be up against a Toyota Cheetahs team that should rank alongside the Waratahs as the side they most enjoy playing against.

A look at the Stormers’ statistics for the season should prove the contention that even though they now boast one of the best scrums in the Vodacom Super Rugby competition, their structured attack is still far from a finished feature. In fact, it remains a weakness, with the only try scoring bonus point picked up this season, meaning the one scored against the Waratahs, being the product of punishing opposition mistakes.

Before the Waratahs game, the Stormers had scored more than 60% of their tries through structured play, but that wasn’t saying much as they were averaging not much more than 1.5 tries a half per match. The bottom line was that opposition teams just weren’t giving them opportunities to counter-punch off mistakes, and against the New Zealand sides there was the small problem of a game plan that made no sense, with the Cape side not realising the folly of trying to run at Kiwis with small backs.

Although they have mixed it up more in recent years, the Cheetahs, like the Waratahs, do have the reputation for being a ball in hand team. And 4 of the last 5 Stormers visits to Bloemfontein have been relatively high scoring games, thus underlining the fact that when these 2 teams play, tries are up for grabs.

That is because the Cheetahs, because of their approach, make the mistakes that the Stormers can capitalise on and which Western Province feasted on in winning last year’s Currie Cup. The problem for the Stormers is that often when they play the Cheetahs, they get duped into playing a similar game to their opponents, which is why there have been scores such as 44 / 34 to the Stormers in 2011 and 35 / 22 to the Cheetahs last year. In that 2011 game the Stormers built their success around a strong defensive game but against the Cheetahs they were chasing a bonus point win to secure 2nd place and a home semifinal.

Last year’s game came at a time when there was a lot of pressure on the Stormers to play a more possession orientated game, and it was just after Gert Smal had been appointed the new director of rugby. The Stormers gave their detractors what they’d been asking for, but they made mistakes, and the Cheetahs exposed the deficiencies in their defensive game that were the consequence of the change of mindset.

This season, possibly because the head coach is heading to Japan at the end of the season and thus doesn’t have his job under threat and the regular captain is head-strong, the Stormers have been less inclined to focus on aesthetic ahead of what is required to get the result. Except against the Kiwi teams, where they bought into the theory that the best way to not have their diminutive back 3 exposed was to keep the ball in hand, the Stormers have been more pragmatic than entertaining.

And it’s brought the desired results, for they Top the South African Conference. But against the Cheetahs it’s going to be interesting to see if they stick to the formula that has seen them beat every other local team they have played so far this season, or whether they fall into the trap they sometimes have in the past of becoming loose because of the team they are playing against.

Fortunately for Stormers fans, their team doesn’t appear completely unaware of the dangers that lurk, and maybe this trip to Bloemfontein will be an occasion where they can disprove the theory that the only thing man has learned from history is that man doesn’t learn from history. Backline coach Robbie Fleck, for a start, is aware of the dangers that lurk if they concede too many turn-overs.

“We really need to be aware of our turnover count,” said Fleck.

“The Bulls hit us with the 1 turnover at the weekend and they scored a really good try. The Cheetahs are a team that wait to pounce on your errors. Last year they scored a long range try when we had the ascendancy.”

The thing about the Cheetahs, acknowledges Fleck, is that you never know completely what to expect from them, and they’ve become a cleverer team recently.

“It is a different challenge this weekend. Against the Bulls you pretty much know what they are going to come up with and you plan accordingly. The Cheetahs by contrast always have a trick up their sleeve.”

The bottom line for the Stormers though, and they should watch the Cheetahs’ recent win over the Western Force for confirmation as well as their game against the Lions last weekend, is that they need to limit the sloppiness that was evident particularly in the 2nd half against the Bulls. Errors can give the Cheetahs opportunities they might not otherwise get if you consider that the Stormers should this time reverse the trend of the Cheetahs shading the scrum battle.

The bottom line for the Stormers should surely be that a tight approach can suffocate a Cheetahs team that lives on scraps provided by the opposition.

Damian de Allende steps up to the plate:

Damian de Allende

With Springbok captain Jean de Villiers out injured, young Damian de Allende has made a good case to occupy the vacant No 12 jersey for the national side, after a string of solid performances in this year’s Super Rugby competition.

Team selections are often subjective and while De Allende has impressed all and sundry, the statistics taken from the Vodacom Rugby App confirm his domination in midfield this season.

In his 3rd season playing at the highest level, the 23-year-old De Allende has emerged as 1 of the biggest talents in South African rugby.

De Allende’s presence in the midfield has been instrumental in the Stormers’ campaign so far this season.

The elusive runner’s class this season is backed by his domination of the Defenders Beaten category after 11 Rounds in the premier tournament in the Southern Hemisphere.

The big strong centre has had the better of the opposition on 40 occasions to top the category with the fleet-footed Israel Folau of the Waratahs in 2nd place with 34.

Behind them are Waisake Naholo (30) of the Highlanders, Hurricanes wing Jualian Savea (28), and Charles Piutau (27) of the Blues.

De Allende demonstrated his abilities to bamboozle the opposition in his side’s 15 / 13 victory over the Bulls in Cape Town last Saturday.

He cracked the Top-5 for Round 11 with the 4 defenders he beat along with Francois Hougaard (Bulls), Harold Vorster (Lions), Joe Pietersen (Cheetahs) and Pierre Spies (Bulls).

The Chiefs’ Tim Nanai-Williams topped the category with 8, with Bulls lock Jacques du Plessis sharing 2nd place with Ma’a Nonu (Hurricanes), Sean McMahon (Rebels) and Tom Marshall (Chiefs) with 6 each.

De Allende’s 13 Clean Breaks is the 4th best so far this season behind Waisake Naholo of the Highlanders with 16.

The Crusaders’ Nemani Nadolo occupies 2nd place with 15, while James Lowe of the Chiefs and the Hurricanes’ Julian Savea sharing 3rd spot with 14 each.

He also makes it into the Top-10 in terms of Carries with his 95 for 8th place compared to category leader Folau with 129.

De Allende is not without his faults and if he wants to become the finished product he will have to work on his defence.

He has missed the 4th most tackles so far this season, slipping 19 for an unwanted blemish behind his name.

The Missed Tackles category is crowded with South African players with 6 players from our shores at the Top of the rankings.

Cheetahs flyhalf Joe Pietersen tops the category missing 23 with the Sharks’ Mouritz Botha (22) and Torsten van Jaarsveld (21) following behind him.

Vodacom Rugby App statistics:

Defenders Beaten (overall):

1. Damian De Allende (Stormers) – 40
2. Israel Folau (Waratahs) – 34
3. Waisake Naholo (Highlanders) – 30
4. Julian Savea (Hurricanes) – 28
5. Charles Piutau (Blues) – 27

Defenders Beaten – Round 11:

1. Tim Nainai Williams (Chiefs) – 8
2. Jacques du Plessis (Bulls), Ma’a Nonu (Hurricanes), Sean McMahon (Rebels) & Tom Marshall (Chiefs) – 6
3. Damian de Allende (Stormers), François Hougaard (Bulls), Harold Vorster (Lions), Joe Pietersen (Cheetahs), Pierre Spies (Bulls) – 5

Clean Breaks (overall):

1. Waisake Naholo (Highlanders) – 16
2. Nemani Nadolo (Crusaders) – 15
3. James Lowe (Chiefs), Julian Savea (Hurricanes) – 14
4. Damian de Allende (Stormers), Cobus Reinach (Sharks) – 13

Missed Tackles (overall):

1. Joe Petersen (Cheetahs) – 23
2. Mouritz Botha (Sharks) – 22
3. Torsten van Jaarsveld (Cheetahs) – 21
4. Damian de Allende (Stormers) – 19
5. Elton Jantjies (Lions) – 18
6. Carl Wegner (Cheetahs) – 17

Duane Vermeulen no fan of enforced rest:

Duane Vermeulen

Springbok and Stormers No 8 Duane Vermeulen has yet to be convinced of the benefits of enforced mid-season rest breaks. The Stormers skipper played just 1 game on his team’s 4-game overseas tour as part of SARU’s agreement with the franchises to rest key players. Yet Vermeulen was on top form in his comeback game, playing an influential role in the Stormers’ win over the Bulls at Newlands last Saturday.

But he said it wasn’t easy to pick up from where he left off.

“I think in the long run you might feel (the benefits) but in a way it is like you don’t get momentum,” said Vermeulen.

“If you play 4 games and rest 2 and you get back into the squad and it has evolved.

“I just want to play, so if I can be on the pitch every week then I am happy. They have got a plan with that and we will see how it works later on this year.”

Stormers coach Allister Coetzee clearly believes in the benefits of resting players, but he was happy to see his skipper leading by example as the Cape Town side moved to the Top of the South African Conference.

Vermeulen was full of energy in the closing stages of the crunch battle and showed great instincts when he charged down what would have been a match-winning drop-goal from Bulls flyhalf Handré Pollard almost on the stroke of full-time.

“The drop-goal could’ve gone over (in the 79th minute), so I could’ve been singing a different tune I guess, but fortunately we had Duane Vermeulen on our side – it’s not something you can coach,” said Coetzee.

“His awareness was good.

“But what was also good was that Duane did not try and kick the ball ahead, which could’ve turned possession around again, instead he dived on it and slowed it down to get the numbers.

“The Bulls came to play, but, once again, our team showed character in what was a short week (after our tour) and in the context of this competition this is an excellent win for us, it’s an important 4 Points.”

Vermeulen said that the charge-down came with a dose of good luck as he read the signals between Bulls scrumhalf Piet van Zyl and Pollard.

The Stormers will rest Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth and prop Steven Kitshoff for Saturday’s Super Rugby clash against the Cheetahs.

“At this stage in the season we have to look at players’ recovery, it is taxing on players and we have got to make sure we manage them properly to ensure they pitch up in every game with the same physical intensity,” said Coetzee.

“That is the challenge you have as a coaching staff and the big thing for me is to back the squad.

“The Cheetahs are a good side and we won’t make changes to break our momentum, we have got to back our squad and make sure that these guys are always fresh.”

Sport24 & SuperSport