Stormers tick the right boxes

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - JANUARY 30: Juan de Jongh of the Stormers during the Super Rugby warm up match between DHL Stormers and Toyota Cheetahs DHL Newlands Stadium on January 30, 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Luke Walker/Gallo Images)

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - JANUARY 30: Juan de Jongh of the Stormers during the Super Rugby warm up match between DHL Stormers and Toyota Cheetahs DHL Newlands Stadium on January 30, 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Luke Walker/Gallo Images)

Published Jan 31, 2015

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Cape Town - There appears to be plenty of uncertainty off the field, but if the Stormers players are affected by the probability that this coming Super Rugby campaign will be Allister Coetzee’s last as head coach, they were able to put that aside in the first hour of their 39-31 win over the Cheetahs at Newlands on Friday night.

After that there were points of concern, not least those which focus on a defensive system that this year will no longer have the genius of Jacques Nienaber on hand to orchestrate and organise what in the past has been the Stormers’ big area of strength.

The Western Province administration appear reluctant to officially announce it, but you can take poison that Coetzee will be in Japan at the helm of the Kolbeco Steelers once this year’s edition of Super Rugby has run its course in July.

There is no secret about Coetzee’s commitment to the Japanese club within rugby coaching circles, with Coetzee having visited there before Christmas and obviously liking what he saw.

WP director of rugby Gert Smal, speaking before Friday’s game, refused to confirm Coetzee’s imminent departure.

“As far as we are concerned Allister is contracted to us until the end of the year, and if he is going to leave sooner than that, we will make the announcement in our own time and through the right channels,” said Smal.

However, sources in Japan have confirmed that Coetzee is on his way there and it is understood that this has been accepted and agreed to by the WP administration.

Smal said he was disappointed with reports that the appointment of former Bok and Kenyan Sevens coach Paul Treu was a contributing factor to any decision on Coetzee’s part to leave.

“I think that Paul is going to be a wonderful asset to WP rugby and I think people who are saying otherwise just don’t want us to succeed,” he said.

Smal added that the departure of Nienaber, who has joined former Stormers/WP coach Rassie Erasmus at SARU, was not in the union’s hands.

“We wanted Jacques to stay but he got an offer elsewhere that he wanted to take up and we decided not to stand in his way. We need to make some changes to our defensive system so that a player like Cheslin Kolbe’s attacking attributes can be maximised,” added Smal.

A dominating Stormers performance on Friday night ensured that the defensive system, now the responsibility of Coetzee, was not tested in the first 60 minutes, with the forwards and backs turning in a motivated and physical display that kept the Cheetahs pegged back in their own half for most of the game.

However, that changed late in the match.

Even though two of the Cheetahs’ tries came about through driving mauls, the fact that the opponents were able to cross the chalk four times with so little possession should be a concern for the Stormers.

The Stormers didn’t take long to get their first points on the board, with Juan de Jongh going over after a powerful drive, and while Jean Cooke struck back with a try for the Cheetahs off a strong drive from the Bloemfontein unit, the hosts quickly galvanised the scoreboard once more.

Their second try was provided in more subtle rapier-like fashion than the bludgeoning first, with backline finesse being to the fore as De Jongh cut the line before putting Huw Jones in for his first try for the Stormers in what was his first start for the franchise.

Jones, a star of the WP under-21 side last year, turned in a strong performance and would have helped allay some of the fears about a possible shortage of midfield resources in the absence of the injured Springbok captain Jean de Villiers.

Hooker Scarra Ntubeni added a third try and scrum-half Nic Groom a fourth just before the break to make it 29-10 to the Stormers, who produced perhaps their most glaring blemish of the game shortly after half-time when Kolbe and De Jongh clashed in trying to field a Cheetahs kick near their own line and Bok wing Cornal Hendricks picked up to score an opportunistic try.

There were several aspects of the game that the Stormers can afford to feel positive about, with game management being one of them, but the powerful scrum that had the Cheetahs under constant pressure was probably the area that would have elicited the most reason to smile afterwards.

Vincent Koch, on loan from the Pumas, added to his strong scrumming performance by showing up well in general play, while Steven Kitshoff was solid in his second game after coming back from a long-term injury lay-off.

There could be some concern over the second-row resources as both Manuel Carizza and Bok Eben Etzebeth left the field before halftime and didn’t return. Of the two injuries, Carizza’s looked the more serious.

The Stormers complete their preparations for the Super Rugby season, which opens with an away clash with the Bulls on Valentine’s Day, with a match against the Boland Cavaliers at Cape Town Stadium next Saturday.

Scorers

Stormers– Tries: Juan de Jongh, Huw Jones, Nic Groom, Scarra Ntubeni and Dillyn Lleyds; Conversions: Demetrie Catrakilis 4; Penalties: Kurt Coleman 2.

Cheetahs– Tries: Cornal Hendricks 2, Tienie Burger and Jean Cook; Conversions: Willie du Plessis 2 and Francois Brummer 2; Penalty: Willie du Plessis.

Weekend Argus

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