Boland to provide breakdown test
27 Jan 2009
The Stormers have a great opportunity to sharpen their breakdown skills when they travel to Boland this Saturday, says Gary Gold.
The Cape franchise completed a 43-33 beating of Saracens last Sunday, but there were areas where they came off second best. Rassie Erasmus admitted the English side were dominant in the scrums and at the breakdown, and Gold reinforced these observations when talking to keo.co.za.
“It was far from a perfect performance. We accomplished certain things in the way we defended and the way we attacked space, but in other aspects we showed we are not ready,” said Gold. “Having said that we are not worried. There is still time to fix things.
“The scrums were understandable, as our three tightheads were unavailable and we had to move a loosehead in Wicus Blaauw to No 3. I actually feel he didn’t do too badly.
“They did turn us over a bit too often on the deck. We’ll receive a good opportunity to rectify that against Boland. There’s a great rivalry between Western Province and the Boland, and any contest involving these players sees a massive fight from the Bolanders. They’re especially ferocious on the floor, and they’ll never give an inch.”
Erasmus will name his starting side this Thursday and has already intimated that a few fringe players will receive a run. First-choice players like Schalk Burger and Brian Mujati are also set to return in this the last warm-up before the opening Super 14 fixture against the Sharks on 14 February.
By Jon Cardinelli
20 Comments
27 Jan 2009, 00:11 am
Stormers by a mile
27 Jan 2009, 00:31 am
‘Breakdown skills’…? As far as I know, both these teams are VERY good at breaking down halfway through the season. No need to practice them skills
27 Jan 2009, 00:45 am
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27 Jan 2009, 05:07 am
From memory weepee broke down fairly well against Boland last year, lets see if they can at least keep it up!
27 Jan 2009, 07:53 am
#4 Koos: The day that they played in the mud against Boland was a perfect break down of their whole season.
27 Jan 2009, 08:11 am
Hallo Boerboel, SuperBul en Koos
27 Jan 2009, 08:55 am
Looks like the only problem we have is in the pack again. But as Rassie said the players are there , they just didn’t play because of injuries. The backline look sharp and i believe it’s going to be a much beter year than the last couple of years. Rassie know’s what he doing , he’s a good coach and i believe we going to come out tops this year. Think we can make it to the finals this year. Hope the injuries stays away this year. Looking forward to a good season.
27 Jan 2009, 08:58 am
#3 superBul: I am joining my brother !
27 Jan 2009, 09:03 am
#7 Andre_WP: The Stormers have a decent prop in Moller and a good prop in Mujati, after that the cupboard is rather bare. Any team that contracts Brok[en] Harris really has a major problem with their front row.
27 Jan 2009, 09:16 am
#9 Loosehead: True true , only thing that we lack is a couple of good forward players. Something the stormers will have to work on. I am sure there’s enough players around in the cape. Just have to go hunt for them. Otherwise the team looks good. I believe Ricky and Grant will come out tops this year. Backline realy looks good again but if we don’t have the forwards than the backline is nothing. So i realy hope we going to perform much beter than last year. Not sure what rules we playing this year , so many rules came in last year.
27 Jan 2009, 09:27 am
#9 Loosehead:
JC Kritzinger is pretty decent too.
27 Jan 2009, 09:56 am
Stormers draw:
14 February: Sharks at Newlands
20 February: Reds at Newlands
28 February: Blues at Newlands
7 March: Bulls at Loftus
14 March: Lions at Newlands
28 March: Crusaders in Christchurch
4 April: Waratahs in Sydney
11 April: Brumbies in Canberra
18 April: Hurricanes in Wellington
24 April: Highlanders in Dunedin
2 May: Chiefs at Newlands
9 May: Western Force at Newlands
16 May: Cheetahs at Freestate Park
27 Jan 2009, 10:14 am
#9 Loosehead: Harris only turns 24 year, maybe he can still develop into a decent proppie. Not saying he is going to set the world alight, but give him a chance, proppies need some time to mature.
27 Jan 2009, 10:52 am
Brock & Bolla are going to Griquas next season , they just don’t know it yet hehehehe.
27 Jan 2009, 10:54 am
#11 WP Till I Die: Ja, for a laaitjie he is good.
#13 wpjoulekkading: The thing is that he has been around for 3 or 4 seasons already and hasn’t improved.
27 Jan 2009, 14:30 pm
If Gold is still working for the Stormers what is Muir doing now?
27 Jan 2009, 15:32 pm
Ok, so why is a Spingbik assistant coach involved with the Stormers? This does not shound right at all …
And while we are on the topic of Gary Gold I would like to know why he still post his plays in the rugby mag? Can we be surprised when our apponents know our moves???
No stop that coloumn immediatley …
27 Jan 2009, 16:07 pm
#17 RedLion roars again: Does the plays actually work or is there proof that the plays work?
27 Jan 2009, 17:41 pm
#17 RedLion roars again: #18 Green Goblin: Those are all basic plays that all teams use. He is a bright man is Gold a real student of the game. I’m very happy to have him back at the Stormers.
My question still isn’t answered though…. Where is Muir? On Holiday?
27 Jan 2009, 18:35 pm
Kitch coached the bokke & the lions same time nogal china
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