Stormers’ defence not unbeatable
17 Mar 2010
Hawies Fourie says the Cheetahs have worked out an effective way to breach the Stormers’ defence.
The Stormers are the best defensive side in the competition. They have only conceded 51 points and four tries in their five games while the Crusaders, the second-best defensive side, have conceded 103 points and eight tries.
This will pose a problem for the Cheetahs, who place a lot of emphasis on an expansive game plan. The Bloemfontein franchise have struggled to protect their possession at the breakdown after putting several phases together, which could open doors for Schalk Burger and Francois Louw to contest for the ball and win turnovers.
However, assistant coach Fourie said there are structures in place to solve this problem when they visit Newlands on Saturday.
‘We have picked up the reasons why the Stormers have been so well organised on defence,’ Fourie told keo.co.za. ‘Their players get back onto their feet quickly after making the tackle. If they realise they don’t have an opening to steal possession, they leave the breakdown and spread wide. This maintains their numbers in defence.
‘We will have to rely on our strike runners to suck in their defenders, but at the same time commit enough players to the breakdown to retain our ball. The less numbers they have in their defensive lines, the more gaps for our attack to target. Momentum in attack will be vital if we want to win.’
The Cheetahs haven’t been consistent on defence this season. They leaked too many tries against the Bulls and Highlanders, but impressed against the Sharks and Hurricanes.
‘Defence will play a big part too. We will need a balanced performance,’ said Fourie. ‘The guys just need to remain mentally strong. I’m sure they will all be fired up come Saturday.’
An interesting match-up will see inexperienced centre Robert Ebersohn facing Springbok Jaque Fourie.
‘Robert has shown he can play at this level after a good performance against the Hurricanes on his debut,’ said Fourie. ‘Jaque has also been out of form this season. He had a blinder against the Hurricanes, but was not up to his standards in the previous fixtures, especially against the Brumbies.
‘In that game, he was solid on defence but did not do enough on attack and dropped too many passes. But I’m sure he will come out strong against us this weekend.’
Meanwhile, with Heinrich Brüssow out, Hendro Scholtz and Kabamba Floors have been promoted to the match 22. This sees Ashley Johnson, who was one of the Cheetahs’ big finds last season, dropped to the Free State Vodacom Cup team.
‘Ashley is struggling with form at the moment,’ said Fourie. ‘We decided to give him game time in the Vodacom Cup side. He’s been playing there for the last two weeks.
‘Hendro is the suitable replacement for Heinrich, while Kabamba will play off the bench. We think that’s his best role, he is a potent player in the last 30 minutes.’
By Gareth Duncan
29 Comments
17 Mar 2010, 09:08 am
nervous i tell you!
17 Mar 2010, 09:14 am
Not sure about Hendro to start ahead of Kabamba. Not good for morale when players come leap frogging the bench into the team but lets wait and see.
17 Mar 2010, 09:29 am
@Oubaas2009: I agree. It must be becasue he’s black
17 Mar 2010, 09:57 am
“The less numbers they have in their defensive lines, the more gaps for our attack to target.”
My goodness – how can the IRB justify the fact that Hawies have never won the international coach of the year award?!
If only the Canes and Highlanders picked up on this then the Stormers would have lost their last 2 games!
17 Mar 2010, 10:00 am
@Mongril: Hahaha
Priceless comment!
So astute! So inciteful! So dof!
17 Mar 2010, 10:03 am
3. WP_ :
March 16th, 2010 at 7:43 am
@Predawn: That’s a very broad, airy fairy statement.
I dont see the Crusaders giving away that many points week in, week out.
WP_ it has to be my overractive imagination then….
17 Mar 2010, 10:05 am
@Predawn: ok then
17 Mar 2010, 10:28 am
I guess Hawies must’ve been off sick when his guys needed to work out “effective” ways to win the two games they lost.
his job is to theoretically propose a solution based on studying the opposition.
sometimes that means his side would have to adapt their whole game plan to meet this solution.
Prob with the cheetahs is that they only play one type of game.
so whatever he tells em, theyll revert back to their natural style of play when the pressure is on and the only scoring they’ll do down here will be in the nightclubs of Claremont(if they really lucky).
Go the Stormers!!
17 Mar 2010, 10:32 am
@pakalolo:
Vokken agree with you china. No matter how the Cheetahs (or Lions) are coached, the hairy backs panic during the game and revert back to old school 1980′s South African rugby.
17 Mar 2010, 10:33 am
@pakalolo:
Make that the Bellville nightclubs – the Claremont girls are not known for their fondness of blokes in safari suits.
17 Mar 2010, 10:39 am
Is Gareth and Hawies room mates? Or is it a form of affirmative action that the Cheetahs are getting so much press this season? Personally I would have preferred if they kept their cards closer to their chest and not sure these insightful wisdoms so openly!
Given the Cheetahs’ injuries (Brussouw and De Villiers) and Viljoen doing a Hobbs, it will be an uphill struggle against a Stormers who has been improving ever week.
17 Mar 2010, 10:40 am
@Predawn: One word to you: Brumbies
17 Mar 2010, 10:57 am
I will laugh if the Cheetahs, without Brussouw, beat the mighty Stormers this weekend. It’s impossible, surely.
17 Mar 2010, 10:58 am
hawies found a way to neutralise the stormers secret weapon , he should contact the other teams immediatly and demand compensation
17 Mar 2010, 11:10 am
@scar:
Wat beteken dit?
17 Mar 2010, 12:57 pm
Hawies Fourie…………You are the weakest link…….Goodbye
I am one of the loyal Cheetah supporter, but this idiot is spending more time on his bloody laptop and interviews than on the playing field!
Really wish someone at the Union will get the Balls to kick out these Chop! At least if the kick him on the *** they will fracture Uys and Demas’s sculls!
Wish they would forget the past and get Gysie back!
17 Mar 2010, 13:24 pm
So…the Cheetahs come off one win and again they have all the answers…
17 Mar 2010, 14:41 pm
@Blouste: When last did the Cheetah’s win two in a row..?…I honestly cannot remember
17 Mar 2010, 14:43 pm
@Storm outta hell: 18. When last did the Stormers reach the knockouts of S14. I honestly can’t remember.
17 Mar 2010, 14:46 pm
@Heavens Game:
17 Mar 2010, 14:47 pm
Stormers by 20…..more likely 30 but I’m being conservative
17 Mar 2010, 15:21 pm
@Storm outta hell:
I am sure the stmrs will take this one, however this is a Sa derby and 20 to 30 is a bit over the top, i think by 3-7 max.
will be a good one though
17 Mar 2010, 15:23 pm
@9. Predawn: Ooooh! So, the Stormers/WP must then be the weakest (after the Sharks) against the ’80s style of play’ if you consider the results from the last decade!
17 Mar 2010, 15:27 pm
My oh my. Talk about arrogance from Stormers supporters!
Since we’re talking about the results and comparing them between the Stormers and Cheetahs, let’s see:
Brumbies and Cheetahs had exactly the same points against the Bulls. Brumbies clobbered the Stormies.
Hey, I don’t believe any of that matters, but since the results against the Hurricanes are brought up in every third post…
17 Mar 2010, 15:53 pm
Hawies is so precious….
If it was as easy as he makes it sound then surely the Cheetas should have won all their games…???
17 Mar 2010, 19:20 pm
@Bouts: Hows about your result against the Highlanders man…. lmao
18 Mar 2010, 00:11 am
@Predawn: when the tough gets going, even the much improved Stormers reverted to an 80s old school pattern. Ek dink jy was bietjie unfair met jou Cheetahs comment!
18 Mar 2010, 10:47 am
@scar: hey hey, when ur side are up against an opposing side then ur comments towards the opposing side are meant to be unfair and biased, this is what a #1 supporter like Jan would do.
cut the oke some slack.
after the game, when us Kappies are enjoying some cheetah biltong, we’ll rub it in on the post game article too
Go Stormers!
18 Mar 2010, 11:01 am
@Bouts: gotta mention that in the 80′s, when the 80′s style was used , im sure, all the time. western province were pretty dominant against other teams back then who obviously played…an 80s style.
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