Cape Town - Stormers head coach Robbie Fleck says he has learned from past mistakes as his team heads into their last Super Rugby group-stage match against the Kings at Newlands on Saturday (kickoff 5.05pm).
Fleck’s men clinched a quarter-final spot and finished eight points ahead of the Bulls (37) with their 22-3 bonus-point win over the Force in a wet Perth last weekend.
But even though the struggling Kings shouldn’t cause the Stormers too big a headache, Fleck emphasised that the Cape side were not focusing on any possible New Zealand quarter-final opponents just yet.
Depending on this weekend’s results, the Stormers could host one of the Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders or Hurricanes on July 23.Either way, Fleck said all his attention was on the Kings.
“We’re going to leave that for next week. What’s important is what we do against the Kings. We’ll deal with whoever we play next week.“
What we’ve learned from the past is this game is actually more crucial than the quarter-final week in the sense of our preparation. So I think if we take our foot off the pedal this week we’re not going to do well next week.
So the lessons are that this week is extremely crucial in terms of our preparation and our attitude.
“Yes, the conference has been won and we’re playing the Kings. They’re a side that have always been in the mix with most teams at half-time, so they’re not an easy side to play. We need to find an intensity that we haven’t had this season and that’s what we need to take into this game. It’s actually a very crucial week and game for us from our side,” Fleck said.
The Stormers will rest two special players as their lineout masters Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit will get a breather this weekend as part of their Springbok resting plan. The duo have been massive for the Stormers this season, topping the lineouts stolen statistics with a total of 28 steals combined.
They were at their canny best just last week, grabbing six Force throw-ins.Fleck confirmed yesterday that he primarily sees Rynhardt Elstadt as a loose forward, so it is likely that JD Schickerling and fit-again Jean Kleyn will start in the second row.
Fleck will also welcome back players returning from injury and said that all fit players will be considered for selection. However, he also emphasised the importance of going into the game against the Kings with a full-strength side.
“The likes of Frans Malherbe, JC Janse van Rensburg, Nizaam Carr... will all report for training and certainly we’ll be looking to make them available for this week, but that will of course depend on their injury status. Oli (Kebble) is also available for selection, but he did go for another scan on his knee today and I’m hoping that he will also be available this weekend.
“Both Jano Vermaak and Robert du Preez trained with us and they are in the mix for selection. But we want to select the strongest side possible going into this weekend. From past campaigns we’ve won the pool or the group prior to the last game and we’ve gone into that game with a plan to rest some players and it hasn’t worked in our favour,” Fleck said.
“So we want to play our strongest side available this weekend and play at an intensity that suits the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final.”
Fleck added that the young backline had complemented their dominant forwards. Backline stars Cheslin Kolbe and Juan de Jongh are busy preparing for the Rio Olympics, but Fleck reserved some nice words for Jaco Taute and Huw Jones.
“I thought the backs actually did pretty well especially in this last game against the Force. It was in extremely difficult conditions,” he said.
“He (Taute) showed great hands in the wet for Kobus’ try, you know to sweep down the blindside with him and Kobus was spot on. And for that second try he did a great job. Jaco’s going well. He’s been out for a long time and he’s worked incredibly hard to get back into the team and I think he was thrown into the deep end. He hasn’t played at 15 in over a year or two and he’s done a good job for us.”
As for Jones, Fleck said: “Even when he played in that Bulls game when he came on for that cameo performance, 10 minutes or 15 to go, he did a great job. Unfortunately he got injured and it’s amazing what Test match rugby does for a player’s confidence. Just being in a different environment, working with a different coach in Vern Cotter, playing for Scotland against Japan, which is basically another Sunwolves team.
“He came back and on tour he was like a man possessed, you know. Just oozing confidence and it showed in his game. He’s been sitting on the bench for a while, but it’s amazing what a call-up does for a player’s confidence, so it’s exciting.”
Cape Argus