The Stormers had barely stepped off the team bus last year when the Lions mugged them at Ellis Park. Robbie Fleck says there’s no chance that Super Rugby’s current log-leaders will get ambushed in Joburg on Saturday night (kick-off 7.10pm).
“They shocked us in that first game of Super Rugby last year,” the Stormers attack coach said yesterday. “We thought they’d come with a big running game, and they suddenly came with a decent kicking strategy and put us under immense pressure.”
In that 34-10 thumping, the Stormers completed just 11 kicks and almost 100 carries; the Lions put boot to ball 27 times and tucked the ball under their arm for just 54 carries, producing their biggest win against the Stormers in the history of the competition.
“It’s going to be a tricky one,”added Fleck, “I think we need to prepare for both (tactics). We would to be silly not to think they’d employ a kicking strategy against us because they’ve done it in the past and it’s worked.
“The Lions have got (scrumhalves) Faf de Klerk and Ross Cronje who can employ that strategy, (flyhalf) Marnitz Boshoff is an excellent kicker out of hand and they’ve got Andries Coetzee at fullback with a good left boot.”
What the Lions don’t have is a commitment to percentage tactics. After 14 matches in this campaign, 12 of the winners have out-kicked their opponents. But the Lions are committed to playing keep-ball in the belief that it will lead to tries, popularity and success.
The Stormers veered towards that philosophy after topping the log in 2012, and it cost them half of their matches over the past two seasons. Duane Vermeulen’s appointment to the captaincy has coincided with a return to tactics that win matches, and the Stormers have averaged 23 kicks in wins against the Bulls and Blues.
Conversely, the Lions opened their account with a 22-8 home loss against the Hurricanes followed by a 29-12 reverse against the Sharks at King’s Park last week.
Admittedly, Durban was the site of torrential downpours for the latter match, but the Stormers should take notice of the fact that the Joburg side tripled their kicking volume against the Sharks.
The Lions may also take a page out of the Blues’ playbook. The Aucklanders adopted a kick-first strategy, and outscored the Stormers 10-9 in the second half of a 27-16 loss, despite playing with 14 men throughout that period.
“The Blues definitely found space in behind us in that second half, it was definitely a tactic of theirs – with 14 men they felt they had to play in the opposition half and they did it with good effect in that second half,” Fleck said.
“It makes sense that after two tough losses the Lions might consider a change of tactics and going a bit more conservative, because they went for an all-out running game and didn’t get much reward. But I don’t think they’ll veer too far from what they view as their strength, which is their running game. They really put us to the sword with their running game at Ellis Park in the Currie Cup (last year).
“They’re quite a tough team to play against, in terms of (guessing) what their tactics will be. If we go back to the Currie Cup final, they had three or four game plans against us – between a kicking strategy, an attacking kicking-game, to a ball-in-hand approach through a strong set piece.
“One thing about them is that they bring a lot of things to the table and you need to be on your A-game.”
The inexperience of the Stormers back-three combination of rookie wingers Dillyn Leyds and Johnny Kotze, together with fullback Cheslin Kolbe, will be tested if the Lions do revert to a more tactical approach this week. But Fleck has no doubt they will rise to the occasion.
“They’re growing every day and have worked incredibly hard on their game. Every week they’re just improving and they’re getting to understand the importance of the kicking game and how to defend against a side that goes wide-wide like the Blues did and the Lions are sure to do at some stage.” - Cape Argus