While many of the Stormers players will use the team’s second bye to get as far away from rugby as possible, Allister Coetzee won’t be spending the week on a lilo sipping cocktails.
The Stormers coach had the management team in his office on Monday morning to discuss the challenges that await the current South African Conference leaders after a week of leisure.
“We spoke about banana-peel games, and we spoke about winning when we’re the favourites,” said Coetzee.
The Stormers will host the Rebels next week in the first of four games, three of which will take place at Newlands, against opponents who are currently positioned in the bottom half of the Super Rugby standings.
The Melbourne side has beaten the Chiefs and Brumbies in recent weeks, and also ran the Waratahs close, but they are currently 10th with six wins.
Visits from the Cheetahs and Lions follow before the Stormers visit Durban to battle the Sharks.
All of these teams will be billed as rank underdogs against the Stormers, and Coetzee is determined not to allow a combination of complacency and favourites-related pressure to undo what has been the Cape side’s most promising campaign in three seasons.
“We learned from that game against the Cheetahs, and we’ll make sure we implement that against the Rebels,” Coetzee said, referring to a 27-19 reverse in Bloemfontein at the beginning of the month. Ambushed by the Cheetahs, the Cape side temporarily surrendered first place in the conference, and a three-game winning streak. Coach and captain Duane Vermeulen branded overconfidence as a root cause.
The Stormers shrugged off the distraction of last week’s Springbok training camp to bounce back with a nail-biting win against the Brumbies, and Coetzee is determined to build on that and finish strong.
“A run of three vital home games starts with the Rebels, and we’ve done well against the Australian sides,” he said.
Since Coetzee stepped into the hot seat in 2012, the Stormers have lost just one of seven clashes against Australian opponents at Newlands, though the coach is concerned about the inconsistency that has dogged them again this season.
In eight wins to date, the Stormers have only twice outscored their opponents in both halves. They could not recover from an 18-10 half-time deficit against the Cheetahs, and it took a missed conversion from Christian Lealiifano to save them from the same result after trailing the Brumbies 16-9 last week.
“We need to make sure we improve on our first-half performances, and get our second half together,” added Coetzee.
“In other games we started well – in the first four games we were really off to great starts and leading by 15 or 18 points.
“If you want to put together 80-minute performances then that’s what you’ve got to do. It’s just basics that really let us down in the beginning of the games.
“We have to understand what the consequences are when you don’t start well or are inaccurate in Super Rugby. It’s important at the business end of the season that we get it right in both halves. We’ll have to be more clinical.” - Cape Argus