Stormers have exceeded expectations
2 Jul 2012
JON CARDINELLI praises the Stormers for maintaining their winning ways despite the absence of seven frontline players.
‘It was one of the best victories of the season,’ remarked coach Allister Coetzee following the Stormers’ 27-17 win over the Lions. Coetzee was relieved, which was unsurprising considering it was a game the Stormers could well have lost. In the end, it was the result that mattered given the team’s struggles with injuries, illnesses, suspensions and fatigue.
The Stormers’ performance against the Lions was woefully inconsistent, but Coetzee won’t be too concerned. What mattered was that the Cape side banked four log points, and remain on course for a first-place finish in the South African conference.
They are two wins away from realising their pre-season goal, and at this point, are still in the running for that coveted top spot on the combined log.
I’ve been one of their biggest critics this season, although I feel it is their kicking game rather than a lack of four-try bonus points that could ultimately cost them in a play-off situation. That being said, the fact that they are still in the running for the play-offs, and the No 1 spot, is nothing short of incredible.
Their record stands at 12 wins in 14 games, and their results have created an expectation. I think the expectations are unfair given the amount of injuries they’ve sustained throughout the season.
If the Stormers had lost more games in recent rounds perhaps people would be forced to accept that losing so many star players can indeed compromise a title surge. But because the Stormers have kept winning, the injuries and absence of big names has gone largely unacknowledged as a compromising factor.
I’m amazed that this Stormers side has done so well in spite of those injuries. What team loses players of the quality and experience of Schalk Burger and Duane Vermeulen and still manages to maintain such levels of intensity and aggression? What team goes to Loftus Versfeld without those unique momentum-generators, and without a lineout genius of the calibre of Andries Bekker, and comes away with a win?
Coetzee and his management team should take a bow, but so too should the fringe players. The Cape side may not have won any trophy of significance since 2001, but it’s clear that a plan is in place and the standards are high.
When your third- or even fourth-choice players deliver the type of performance seen at Loftus five weeks ago, then you know that your franchise has fantastic depth.
And good depth is certainly an essential requirement in this new marathon Super Rugby competition. The Stormers have had to deal with injuries in every department, but have only lost two games. Even though they won’t have Burger and Vermeulen back until the play-offs, there is a strong chance that they will win their remaining games and top the SA conference.
They will be boosted this week as several players return from rest, illness and suspension. Steven Kitshoff was rested for the Lions game, and will make a timely return for a testing front-row battle with the Cheetahs. Bryan Habana and Joe Pietersen will be back after missing last week’s match with flu, and Rynhardt Elstadt has completed his one-week ban.
It’s unlikely that lock Eben Etzebeth will be available, as he is still battling with an ankle injury. He’s been a key player for the Stormers, even though he’s only into his first season of Super Rugby.
And yet, you get the feeling that the Stormers will cope without Etzebeth against the 10th-placed Cheetahs. They’ve created that expectation that their second and third-choice players are good enough to do the job.
After a visit to Bloemfontein, the Stormers will return to Newlands for their final league match against the 12th-placed Rebels. Two wins in their final two games should secure the conference title, and the fact that the Bulls and Sharks will meet this week will also help them in that respect.
Whether the Stormers have developed their game to the point where they can win a big play-off is a different story, and I’m not sure that they will take the necessary momentum, that is the team synergy and accuracy, into the knockouts.
It is unfortunate that Burger, Vermeulen, and Nick Koster (the Stormers’ first-choice back row that has been sidelined for several months) may not receive game time before the play-offs. They will be rusty when they return, although Coetzee will need to fit them into his match 22. Quality and experience are needed in the play-offs.
But any evaluation of the Stormers’ 2012 season should have some perspective. We’re heading into the penultimate round of Super Rugby and we’re still talking about third-choice players like Tyrone Holmes, Don Armand and Jebb Sinclair. Injuries have resulted in their elevation, and the fact that the Stormers have won with these players should not create any expectation that they should win the title.
Defeat in a semi-final or final will not be as damning as some expect. It should not be met with the same disappointment that followed the failures of 2010 and 2011.
It may not have been acceptable to consider play-off qualification an achievement before the start of the season, but given all that has transpired on the injury front, anything beyond that must be considered a bonus.
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313 Comments
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2 Jul 2012, 14:19 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-271: Yes, I think it’s clear who has the upper hand this time of year
I mean dinner for 2 at Ocean Basket and 2 movie tickets at the Labia for a grand total of R75! Clearly Winter has it’s benefits.
2 Jul 2012, 14:24 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-300:
I toyed with the idea a long time ago, around 2004-2005.
Needless to say my knowledge on this topic is extremely limited.
It sounds like you have a good grasp of it, though. I’d like to discuss this with you when I get to Durbs!
2 Jul 2012, 14:24 pm
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-295: ok ja my mate is one of the managers on a abalone farm in haga haga.
abalone accounts for about 95% of the 350 mill aquaculture generates in sa annually.
but its not helping takle pressure off table fish and is input and capital intensive whereas tilapia is.
anyways, i am out we can continue this chat later.
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-297: not a first but pretty rare bud.
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-298: ja, the marron has been tried and prawns too and i am more interested in a holistic ecologically sound approach utilising a species that is local and can support an entire industry.
mail me if you are interested in chatting.
outta here gang, have a goodie.
2 Jul 2012, 14:37 pm
Exceeding expectations? …. ok then.
Marky was tough on on the Lions at the breakdown, and basically coached the Stormers.
Lions have a new Rose in Raun Combrink and the loss of Coetzee at the back hurt the Lions. Mapoe is looking good at 13 in his last 2 outings.
2 Jul 2012, 16:16 pm
Ag please man. What one-sided rubish! They have been doing OK. Unfortunately they will be found lacking when it matter. What will the excuses be then? The ref, or will the players threaten a strike again? Lets keep our feet on the ground as this season is far from over!
2 Jul 2012, 20:07 pm
“What team loses players of the quality and experience of Schalk Burger….”
A team that has discovered the greatest loosie on the planet… SIYA KOLISI!!!
2 Jul 2012, 23:54 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-301: 2 movie tickets at the labia ? Strange place to keep your movie tickets.
3 Jul 2012, 04:44 am
Note well how far back your RACISM ,just in sport, reaches. Just an introduction to it and the deceit that accompanies it.
” Racial discrimination since the occupation of the Cape by the Dutch and the British doomed the indigenous people and the Coloured community to perpetual serfdom.
The Nonquase incident destroyed the Xhosa people and accorded Sir George Grey the opportunity to introduce a new economic system geared at keeping the disadvantaged people in bondage from which there was no escape. He, however, realised that a degree of education was necessary in order to succeed and utilised the missionaries to establish schools to transform the cheap labour reservoir into useful pawns and to ensure that the newly introduced economic system would prosper.
Click image to enlarge. REAL PITY you do not see this picture of youth cricket
Leribe, Basutoland – 1934.
The educationists realised that a form of recreation was necessary and introduced rugby, cricket, and tennis into the Xhosa schools. These codes became the sporting activities of the Blacks and spread to all corners of the Eastern Cape. The students who attended these schools introduced the codes to the areas where they came from.
The discovery of diamonds at Kimberley attracted people from all over the world. The Xhosa labourers who went to Kimberley introduced rugby, cricket and tennis to the indigenous peoples. There was also a Coloured community who also played these codes. The White colonists did not allow the indigenous people to belong to their clubs. The Black communities played on their own.
International tours to South Africa inspired the White codes to establish national organisations which in turn organised provincial tournaments from which their national teams were selected. During the 1891/2 cricket season, the Malays had the distinction of being the first ever Black South African side to play against an overseas touring side. WW Read’s English team played an extra game over two days against the Malays at Newlands in Cape Town. The fact that they were easily beaten is unimportant.”
3 Jul 2012, 04:50 am
Discrimination Rears its Ugly Head
One of the star players from the Malay side was J “Krom” Hendricks, a fast bowler. He was selected to go on the first South African touring team to England in 1894, but because of his colour, he was subsequently left out.
Click image to enlarge
Isaiah Bud-Mbele
The introduction of national trophies also inspired the Black communities to establish national bodies and to seek trophies for which their provincial teams could compete for. The Black sporting community of Kimberley was the most advanced and progressive and they contacted Cecil John Rhodes and Barney Barnato for trophies for rugby and cricket. Rhodes donated the Rhodes Trophy for rugby while Barnato donated the Barnato Trophy for cricket. These two trophies were competed for under the auspices of the South African Coloured Rugby Board and the South African Coloured Cricket Board. It is interesting to note that Isaiah Bud-Mbele played a major role in securing both trophies from the respective donors.Isaiah Bud-Mbele played cricket for the Eccentric Cricket Club in Kimberley during the 1890s and captained the Native Rovers Rugby Club.
3 Jul 2012, 05:13 am
Thanks to this Aussie ‘varsity library where much time is spent searching their sports’ archives you can educate yourselves as that aspect is sorely lacking:
Basil D’Oliveira and the Lost Sons of South African cricket – Still Climbing In to Watch
Here is the link:
http://downatthirdman.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/lost-sons-of-south-african-cricket-still-climbing-in-to-watch/
3 Jul 2012, 06:28 am
Thanks Neil.
This should get the thread up n going again
3 Jul 2012, 08:12 am
@Neil(Neilanate)-308: Thanks for that Neil. Was wondering how far back racism went. So hard to tell when there are examples all throughout the length and breadth of human history. Australians did not even include aboriginals in the official count of its human population until the 1960s. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
3 Jul 2012, 10:07 am
And so the excuses start. That is why the Stormers will always be also rans and nearly boys. They and their supporters always have excuses for every loss, and now even start making up excuses three weeks before the play off’s. Shame poor babies …. they are they only ones ever affected by injuries.
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