Physicality seems to be the buzzword for the Stormers this week – but they are going to need more than just that to tame the Hurricanes on Good Friday.
The returning Springboks Duane Vermeulen and Eben Etzebeth will certainly give the Stormers the extra grunt up front for the match in Wellington. And the Stormers feel they need to impose themselves physically on the Hurricanes.
But, looking at their opponents on paper, the Stormers will need more than just aggression to beat the Super Rugby leaders.
The Stormers fronted up physically against the Chiefs and killed them in the scrums. But the Cape side still lost because the New Zealand side managed to pounce on their aimless kicks down field. The same thing happened last week against the Highlanders, only for the team from the South Island to outscore the Stormers by five tries to three.
The coaching staff were upset that the Stormers were “lured out of their structure” by the Highlanders. But that was not the only reason they lost the game.
It was the plethora of mistakes they made, which included a whopping 20 handling errors. Passing and catching are two fundamentals of rugby, and at Super Rugby level players should be able to execute the basics under pressure.
The fact is, the Hurricanes also have a big pack of forwards who are not going to stand back and be dominated. And they are going to rock up with a backline full of All Blacks.
So the Stormers will need more than physicality to try and leave New Zealand with a victory, because the “Canes” are hauling out the expensive cutlery on Good Friday.
The Hurricanes rested All Blacks Beauden Barrett, Julian Savea, Ben Franks and Dane Coles for their 36-12 win over the Melbourne Rebels.
“I think you can probably expect some guys might come back in to it,” Hurricanes forwards coach John Plumtree told stuff.co.nz.
“We have a lot of respect for the Stormers. They’ve been a top side for a long time and I know a lot of them.”
By the looks of things, the Cape franchise plan to be circumspect and will not take too many chances against the Hurricanes to avoid last week’s knock-on festival.
“You have got to be direct and earn the right to offload. We did that before we got the forward dominance,” coach Allister Coetzee said yesterday.
So essentially the Stormers want to get into an arm wrestle with the Hurricanes. And they are hoping that their under-fire halfbacks can lead the way.
Nic Groom and Demetri Catrakilis didn’t have the best of outings against the Highlanders. Admittedly, Groom wasn’t helped by the Stormers’ struggles at the breakdown, but Catrakilis was caught in between thoughts too often and tackled behind the gainline in Dunedin.
Coetzee, though, is hoping they will redeem themselves.
“I’m confident he (Groom) will bounce back. But I just can’t put the blame on him,” Coetzee said.
“Players make mistakes, but I’ve gone with the same halfback combination. I’m looking for them to play direct and I’m looking for better direction of the gamplan.
“They have done it before, so we don’t want a knee-jerk reaction and change it.”
With Vermeulen back in the side at No 8, it wasn’t a surprise that Nizaam Carr was dropped from the squad.
It was a straight shootout between Carr and Schalk Burger to play the role of linkman and extra ball carrier in the Cape side’s loose trio. Unfortunately for Carr he has struggled so far this season, and Burger got the nod because of his excellent display in his 100th Super Rugby match in the defeat against the Highlanders.
Siya Kolisi, who was also one of the better performers against the Highlanders, will pack down in the No 6 jersey against the Hurricanes – his 50th Super Rugby match.
Carr just hasn’t been his dynamic self this season after a viral infection severely disrupted his pre-season. He was in hospital for close to two weeks and lost weight in the process.
He’s hardly managed to make an impact, either with ball in hand or in his role of playing towards the ball in the No 6 jersey. He just isn’t the same player who came off the bench against Italy and made a try with virtually his first touch of the ball in the Springbok jersey.
On the other hand, one might argue that Carr needs the gametime to get up to speed and back to his best, while his game-breaking ability may have warranted an inclusion on the bench.
But the Stormers’ brains trust feel that Carr is not up to the mark at the moment. And that’s also the reason why coach Allister Coetzee has picked Michael Rhodes ahead of him on the bench.
“If you look at our most physical loose trio combination, than that is what we have this week. So that is what we need. They have quite a mobile and physical loose trio, and we have to make sure that we match that physicality,” Coetzee said yesterday.
“It definitely concerns everyone that he hasn’t hit his straps this season. I need Nizaam to be confident in his game.
“He understands that he has dropped off in physicality and terms of execution and accuracy. But we know he will get his form back. He is a classy player and will get back to form.”
STORMERS TEAM
15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff. Bench: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Ruan Botha, 20 Michael Rhodes, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Kurt Coleman, 23 Huw Jones.