Stormers under no illusions
13 Feb 2006
Coach Kobus van der Merwe believes the Stormers must improve by at least 50% if they hope to beat the Waratahs on Saturday night.
The Cape franchise got their Vodacom Super 14 season off to a satisfactory start when they beat the Circus Cats at Ellis Park, but the Men in Black never really got out of second gear.
“We have no illusions after Saturday’s win and don’t want to to read too much into it,” said Van der Merwe after the game.
The coach praised his pack, who dominated their Cats opponents and laid the foundation for the win. “Our tight five has taken a lot of criticism in the past and they were talked about again after the game, but this time it was because they gave the Cats such a tough time,” he said. The Stormers line-out was also rock solid, and they won every line-out on their own throw.
Van der Merwe also lauded the performance of flyhalf Peter Grant, who outplayed the woeful Tiaan Snyman. “Peter is another player who’s taken a lot of flak, but he showed that he has the temperament to excel under pressure,” he said.
The only concern for Van der Merwe was the ease with which the Cats forwards mauled. “We’ll look at that this week and come up with a plan,” he said. “The way the Cats drove us back in the second half was a worry.”
27 Comments
13 Feb 2006, 07:57 am
Yep,
The Cats were woeful, I am still not completely convinced and the tahs will certainly prove a sterner test on a nice dry field.
Cant wait.
13 Feb 2006, 08:07 am
Well done to all the Stormers! I think though, that its gonna take a lot more thab 50%, the Cats could just as well have been the blind school.
Just a question, is it a prerquesite that as a Stormers Captain you have to be able to head butt at the breakdown?
13 Feb 2006, 08:13 am
But then the aussi sides have looked almost as bad as the cats over the weekend.
And what is going to happen to Barry?
13 Feb 2006, 08:15 am
I told you the stormers will take the Cats. We know how to play them
13 Feb 2006, 08:16 am
wls, I might be wrong but nothing is going to happen. I think that once its been dealt with on the field there ain’t much that can happen.
Simon, is this correct?
13 Feb 2006, 08:16 am
Redcard – lol, Yip there was an article in one of the dailies down here about how DWB chatted to Corne re-captaincy, it apppears he also worked on his headbutting techniques with him
13 Feb 2006, 08:18 am
Let me know when you get to Joburg IG, there’s a cold one here with your name on it.
13 Feb 2006, 08:20 am
Where will the spears base their team, JHB or Cape Town ?
13 Feb 2006, 08:20 am
I think Pretoria
13 Feb 2006, 08:21 am
Cheers Red
13 Feb 2006, 08:24 am
The Stormers Forwards impressed me very much. I was looking spesifically at the tight 5. Andries Bekker got through a mountain of work. He tackled very well and also stole 2 lineout balls if I remember correctly. Ross Skeate has very good ball skills and he also has quite a bit of pace. Both of them was very good at fringe tackling and put in some biggies there. The only thing that was lacking for me is that they didn’t always clean out the rucks with the neccesary aggression. But I suppose that will come in time.
Cheers
13 Feb 2006, 08:31 am
Why is everyone so surprised that the Stormers’ tight five did well? Hasn’t it been obvious to everyone that Rob Linde has been the problem the last 2 years, and now that he’s injured all is well again?
13 Feb 2006, 09:03 am
Got time for one quick comment then I gotta dash.
These Cat’s are an embarrasment to SA rugby, I’m really finding it harder every time to give them support. If they were trying it would be a different matter, but one gets the feelin they just go on the field cause they’re paid to do so. One look at their body language tells the story. Earl Rose must be cursing at having joined what seems on the outside to be one seriously unhappy union. Unfortunately, I now believe what the punters have to say in their case. 100\1 is about right. Well done Stormers, Sharks, and of course Bulls.
13 Feb 2006, 09:21 am
Bluecap,
It was just as difficult to give the Bulls support 3 and for years ago when they were ****.
13 Feb 2006, 09:32 am
Earl rose is a nana and deserves a team that loses.
Not that I would totally write the cats off just yet.
If they sort the fly half story, drop Jorrie and adjust attitude they will do better.
13 Feb 2006, 09:39 am
Redcard
The thing about supporting a team, is that you support them through, the good and the bad years.
Interesting that WP lost to EP and WP playing all their S14 players that did not play the Kittens on Saturday. ( Ep did not play their Spears players, cause they don’t have any, Spears are all imports )
Blue Bulls hammered FS with their reserve players. ( 38-10 or someting)
13 Feb 2006, 09:40 am
i think that that tiaan snyman single-handedly played his team out of the game. he is utterly awful and should never play super 14 rugby. the whole team looked poor, but the way he played they had very little chance to do any better.
13 Feb 2006, 09:49 am
Snyman could not have influenced the scrumming, line outs, handling and getting cleaned out.
13 Feb 2006, 09:50 am
Mickey
Add the names January, Jorry to the list for the rest they were’nt to bad. The scrummy that took over from January was much better so was the ponny tail that took over from Jorry.
I do not understand that a coach ( cats) pick a kicking flyhalf for the raining match, and then tries to run every ball.
13 Feb 2006, 10:54 am
What a **** game. I agree – Cats were truely woeful. But all is not lost yet. A few guys returning from injuries, a couple more changes, who knows…
Jorrie has to go. And this is not another Jorrie joke. He is a terrible player on attack and defense. Has anyone ever seen him tackle below chest hight? Esterhuysen was WAY better and should have started anyway.
Snyman is not even comfortable in the Currie Cup. Even the Vodacom Cup. He has no BMT, no vision, can’t think on his feet, has a kak pass and seems somewhat afraid of contact (okay, except for the huge head-on collision with de Kock). Sad thing is, he’s probably going to start next game again because there’s no one else.
We need a big, strong ball carrier. Where is Vosloo? A loose trio of Grobbelaar, van Heerden and Vosloo would give us the perfect balance of scrapping for the ball, solid defence and rampaging runs.
A front row of Hurter, van Biljon and van Niekerk should scrum the poop out of most teams. Yet they didn’t on Saturday. Is this a coaching or a commitment problem?
Which brings me to Ludeke. Surely he’s been given enough chances. Isn’t it time the Cats started scouting for a Real coach?
13 Feb 2006, 11:31 am
Like I said before the game. No 10 worried me. Jorrie will be in the team because I heard his dad or some family member has got a “high” seat in GLU. Grant (Jorrie’s sub) showed what big heart is. If Jaque Fourie stays injury free that boy will own that Springbok jersey. Sorry Barry and others…. imo. Guess I’m not buying a Cats jersey this year. C’mon boys….. Waar is Phil Pretorius? Hy moet die Leeus bietjie vasvat.
13 Feb 2006, 11:44 am
katman,
agree with all of what you say, Ig also reckons Vosloo’s the answer, i reckon we need some size.
As for snyman, the oke is no good, look hopefully he’ll improve, but whenever i’ve seen him he loks like a rabbit caufht in headlights. Need a quick thinker.
13 Feb 2006, 11:51 am
Good question, where is Vosloo? – he had a very tidy season in 2005 with that crazy mohawk haircut & seemed to complement Grobbelaar (elbow in face of the Hulk) & van Heerden …
13 Feb 2006, 12:10 pm
Katman,
They didnt scrum the Stormers because the Stormers were on top of it on the day.
Just better, thats all.
13 Feb 2006, 12:37 pm
The cats have a talented backline but it doesnt really matter when the flyhalf either kicks the ball away,gets caught with the ball or throws a terrible pass if they can sort that out they should be fine. im not sure if rose is the answer though he looked pretty good at 15 with limited opportunities he may struggle with the pressure at flyhalf perhaps they should give Hough a chance. Wheres eugene
13 Feb 2006, 14:26 pm
True, Snoop. The Stormers tight 5 was better on the day. I wasn’t having a dig at them. Merely pondering whether the Cats front row’s dismal performance had to do with issues such as coaching, motivation, team spirit and fitness. Basically, I want the coach to start taking responsibility for the failures year after year.
Cab, Vosloo is a big boy. He may not be the tallest loosie, but he’s certainly not the shortest either. And he’s built like a brick shithouse. After his performance in the Currie Cup I was really looking forward to seeing him in the Super14.
14 Feb 2006, 10:38 am
Katman
I recon its motivation. Have seen your boys play much better in the past.
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.