Blues send Stormers warning
2 Apr 2006
Having bashed the Bulls in Auckland to get their Vodacom Super 14 campaign back on track, the Blues have now set their sights on the struggling Stormers.
The Blues have made a habit this season of winning a match and then losing their following fixture. They beat the Reds and then lost to the Crusaders, before beating the Brumbies and then losing to the Waratahs.
Blues assistant coach Joe Schmidt is eager to break the trend against the Stormers this Saturday.
“There’s still a fair bit of pressure on because we know we have to get consistency week to week,” he told xtramsn. “For people to have confidence in the team’s performances they have to be consistent.
“We struggled for consistency sometimes [against the Bulls] but I thought we looked more enthusiastic and keener than they were and that really showed up, particularly in broken play. We seized the ball and had a go with it.”
Schmidt said he was delighted by the performance of new flyhalf Isa Nacewa, who replaced the axed Tasesa Lavea.
“I thought he did pretty well really,” he said. “He’s pretty physical for a No 10 and one of the things we felt was that he would give us great defence. They tend to have guys coming around the corner and attacking but he threw himself at them. He controlled the game well and attacked the line well.”
25 Comments
2 Apr 2006, 20:37 pm
The blues can warn as much as they want, Stormers are ready for their next win!!! We are not dragons, we are dragon slayers.
2 Apr 2006, 20:48 pm
BERNARD
YOU MUST BE DRUNK IF YOU THINK THE STORMES WILL BEAT THE BLUES.
HECK THEY WON’T EVEN COME WITHIN 15
2 Apr 2006, 20:53 pm
Puddles are dead in the water – Blues will go singing in the rain!
2 Apr 2006, 21:06 pm
BB why cant we win… Because you say so, I KNOW IT AND YOU KNOW IT, The Stormers going to win, team are getting the lus of rugby again, they showed it against the force; they were behind 8minutes to go but didn’t roll over and play dead, no the fought and scored a bonus try(something the bulls couldn’t do)
2 Apr 2006, 21:43 pm
yay the stormers beat the weakest team in the comp.
2 Apr 2006, 21:56 pm
cummon bernard, as much as i would like it to happen, it aint gonna.
2 Apr 2006, 22:17 pm
Stormers to nail the Blues!!! Bulls to nail the Chiefs!!! Cat’s to nail the Red’s(ahem) And of course the Cheetah’s to nail the Brumbies!!!
And while all this masacreing is going on, the Durbanites in true fashion will be lazing on the beach catching rays.
Actually, all jokes aside, I think the Cheetah’s will take the Brumbies. If they can get in their faces as the did the Hurricanes, it could be nag for them.
2 Apr 2006, 22:23 pm
Blues to take the shapeless Stormers apart, by 15.
2 Apr 2006, 22:28 pm
OK Guys, I’ll be the 1st one to email you on Friday morning, and please dont be shy then to answer me back, I’ll keep quite till the game cause i can see i’m talking to people thats loves the sheep.
3 Apr 2006, 01:08 am
Waaahaaa, piss-puddles to beat the blues? YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING!!!
3 Apr 2006, 01:41 am
Struggling Blues vs Struggling Stormers
3 Apr 2006, 05:13 am
Bernard #4
Yes because I say so!!!! Oh and because 20 millions other say so, and because their (non)performance says so, and because they are the first team to have allowed the force to score log points, and because the list goes on and on.
3 Apr 2006, 05:29 am
Sorry mountain goats the blues to win this one.
3 Apr 2006, 06:54 am
The Reds have more chance of beating the Cats than the Stormers have of beating the Blues. They barely scraped by the Force and they won’t miraculously turn into a rugby team overnight, especially if brainless Barry and joker Joubert are on the field. Hard to believe those two were the form centers two years ago. Auckland at home are a tough team to beat and they are finally finding their rhythm, especially without useless Lavea at flyhalf.
3 Apr 2006, 07:18 am
Bokusa
The Reds surprised the Sharks. Don’t be surprised if they give the cats a shock. On the otherhand it might not be a shock if the cats lose :winks:
3 Apr 2006, 07:22 am
Bernard post no9.You are a idiot.Please go to any pub in NZ and then go and tell a Maori that he is a sheepshager.They have great respect for the great rivalry between the All Blacks and the Boks.
3 Apr 2006, 07:57 am
***** teeth Bliksem,you are touchy for the kiwi’s today,ja ? There have been countless posts re sheepshaggers and worse over the past few years ,and now Bernard says you guys are a little pro sheep and you get worked up. He is not about to go to a pub and soek w a Maorie. But do you think one of them will go to a jol in Hillbrow and start shouting about dutchmen. Nooo.
But I know they dont always talk about us kindly either. I think Bernard may even have a nice appreciation for the great tradition too.
He just saw something in the way the Storms approached the game that was not evident AT ALL in the Cheetahs or Bulls games. He probably doesnt believe we’ll win but has high hopes.
If the Blues have a bad day and the Stoms play like they did vs the Force BUT have the wings play halkf decently,we just could pip them. its no given AT ALL ,but the man is excited and its a little refreshing that someone see’s the good in the last game and not just the 1 point deficit etc etc.
i think the Force have improve considerably and I would rigt now rather watch them play all out like they have nothing to loose than the Buls and Cheetahs who are playing like they have everything to loose.
i was not entertained by the latter two on he weekend,yet both the tailenders who came within a ponint of each other dished up rugby (generally) that was worth watching. Theyw anted to play and wanted to attack and wanted to win.
What a change.
3 Apr 2006, 08:24 am
Well if Stormers want to win they need to get Bolla to up his game.
He pasted more balls head high to Naas in the Force game. No wonder the tallent of the backline is not getting into gear. MJ looked lost on the wing and he normally make 2-3 time more tackles. Chavanga missed a few easy tackles and he too needs to up his game. The forwards on the other hand all play very well. Skeat had a rest and Gerrie added a different ‘fire’ to the engine room. Loose forwards did well and Big Joe look good on first run – Adri does bring some tallents to team and plays a more conventional no8.
So Bolla up your game and get ball in the right place else I am afried Blues will beat you.
3 Apr 2006, 08:59 am
Wtf, the Stormers beat the Force by 1 and you think you are better than complete *****??
gimme a break
3 Apr 2006, 09:15 am
Simon, I fail to see where the Blues “send a warning” to the Stormers. Maybe I am just and idiot??? Or Simon, maybe you are twisting words again???
3 Apr 2006, 10:02 am
Shred
I agree
Except the Blues and the Stormers are tow peas in a very exclusive pod.
So much talent, but so little display of that talent so far to suggest they are both fakes.
3 Apr 2006, 11:12 am
I think this could be a great game with the stormers being more suited to the Blues style. The Blues have a powerful pack, but they do struggle agains the more skillfull sides. The stormers tour better than the bulls and i fancy last weeks win to give them some confidence.
Hopefully they can take the Blues close, whether they can sneak a win is debatable. Lets really see how effective Watson and Burger are.
3 Apr 2006, 11:17 am
Bloubulsd
I seem to remember the Bulls struggling against the Force ,so much so as to go for the penalty kicks as they were kucking that they would loose thegame. the Force played better vs the Stormers and that Stanisforth guy is red hot. Repeat ,if all you can read into the game was the one point win ,then you arent really watching the game…just the score.
all_stormers ….you atleast WERE watching the game. Very true.
I actually think Bolla is one that keeps the game fast and is readyand decisive and keeps the pressure up. He is committed but yes some of hispasses were too high.
I do notice tho how Bolla gets nailed by public for every wrong move he makes ,wheras Ruan Pienaar had a bordering on kuck game (altho he finished off a try nicely) its just not in vogue to say aanything bad abouhim. Stransky struggled to admit that he made some poor errors and admitted he was loath to do so. If there is no mention of Bolla ,he has had a good game. if there is mention ,its every mistake he made.
Iwant pienaar to reach heights of the once legendry Joost like everybody but wish peole and commentators would call a spade a spade when someone actually does good things and bad things.
Conradie does a lot of good things across the board. He also screws up occasionally or throw s an average to bad pass here or there. He is worth a lot more than he is not. Pienaar only has to break the line once in 3 to 5 games and he is a legend in the making. bollas contribution is more consistent nd the amount of pressure he puts on opposition is immense.
Pienaar 3 times in arow could not adjust his speed of service to nopt get flattened by his borderline offside opposition. No mention made by our lousy and boring commentators. Geez im starting to enjoy the Ozzie ones as they have a sense of humour.
We are oh so predictable.
I do hope Bolla has near perfect service this weekend.But I wont slam him for a few mistakes in an overall inspired performance.He has been streets above FDP and Ricky this S14.
Many people just dont want to accept that.
3 Apr 2006, 16:23 pm
I Agree on Bolla! He’s actually much better than Fdp. I never liked Fdp and never really rated him…..even his face is ugly!!!!!
Bolla needs more credit than he gets!
And BB….Dan retief said stormers to loose and bulls to win…when will you bulls wake up…you are just as bad as the stormers are and the cheetahs and the cats. We are only to happy to hang in there when teams like saders and thas are cracking the whip on us …week in and week out!!!
3 Apr 2006, 22:28 pm
An Auckland **** is more powerful than a Cape Stormer.
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