IT’S been difficult to actually gauge the Stormers’ progress in terms of their attacking game, and where they actually find themselves in relation to the best teams in Super Rugby.
While they have won six of their eight matches so far this season, they haven’t played many of the tournament’s big teams, and by that I mean the New Zealand sides.
Their biggest game was against the Brumbies and they comfortably beat them at home, yet the week before they lost to an average Sharks side.
The Stormers’ other big game was a derby against the Lions, who they are trying to emulate when it comes to playing an all-encompassing brand of rugby. The Stormers lost 29-22, although they were in the match for a long period and could have won it.
The Stormers have played some nice rugby over the last three weeks. Their attacking play is also slowly coming together, as they scored seven tries against the Sunwolves and five against the Reds.
But against the Lions they scored only one, and those are the sides the Stormers must measure themselves against ... the top dogs.
And they face another one of those top teams when the Waratahs rock up at Newlands tomorrow (kickoff 7.15pm).
The Waratahs have some of the best attacking and creative players in the business, while they also have a good pack who will enjoy a fair share of possession at Newlands. Plus, they are slowly getting back to their best, so it should be the perfect test for Robbie Fleck’s men.
“I think we chatted about the Lions being a similar sort of challenge for us, to see where we really are, likewise for the Brumbies early on in the campaign. It’s big teams like this to see how far you have grown as a team and where we are regards to the rest of the competition,” Fleck said yesterday.
“Certainly, the Waratahs are a team who have found a bit of form recently; they had a slow start to the campaign, but they have always had quality coaching and quality players. It was just a matter of time before they found their feet again.”
The Stormers beat the Tahs last year in Sydney by tackling the life out of them and striking from turnovers.
The Tahs were too predictable on attack, as they just came with one-off runners.
Fleck is doubtful the Australians will be as predictable tomorrow, while his team will also look to do more that just tackle for 80 minutes.
“We always look back at what we did in the past against them. It always helps with our analysis, even if we have changed the way we want to play. I think they will be smarter than in that game in Sydney. They probably forced their hand a little bit,” Fleck said.
“Their culture hasn’t changed, they want to keep ball in hand. They have some really good runners out wide and they base their game on momentum. We have got to be as good defensively as we were in Sydney, but certainly our approach this year is that we want to play more with ball in hand.”
The Stormers are boosted in midfield with the return of co-captain Juan de Jongh. He will partner with Damian de Allende – the first time that the two Springboks will play together this year.
“This midfield combination is the one we would have thought about as our first-choice centre pairing at the start of the season, so it is good to see Juan and Damian finally playing together,” Fleck said.
“Johnny (Kotze) did well for us while Damian and then Juan were absent but now that those two are back, I am very happy.”
TEAMS FOR NEWLANDS
Stormers:15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg. Bench:16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Brandon Thomson, 23 Huw Jones.
Waratahs:15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Reece Robinson, 13 Israel Folau, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Jed Holloway, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Will Skelton, 4 David Dennis, 3 Tom Robertson, 2 Hugh Roach, 1 Paddy Ryan. Bench:16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jeremy Tilse, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Sam Lousi, 20 Wycliff Palu, 21 Matt Lucas, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Matt Carraro.
Referee: Mike Fraser
Kickoff:7.15pm TV: SS1 SS HD1