Stormers must handle first-half heat
24 Jul 2012
Allister Coetzee believes the Stormers will need to dominate the forward exchanges and bank early points if they’re going to stall the rampant Sharks.
The Stormers have produced some commanding first-half performances over the course of the 2012 season. If there has been one period of the game where they have consistently flagged, it’s been in the third quarter, and it is that lack of concentration that has often allowed the opposition back into the contest.
That being said, it’s interesting to note that the Stormers are not a team that excels at chasing the game. Indeed, in their two losses to the Crusaders and Sharks this season, they have trailed at half-time.
The Sharks won that derby in Durban 25-20 after leading 20-6 at the break. They also made a massive statement when they went to Brisbane last Saturday and scored 17 unanswered points in the first half hour.
No doubt they will be looking for another strong start in this weekend’s semi-final, as it will put the Stormers into a position where the Cape side will need to chase the game.
The Stormers coach believes there are lessons to be taken from the Stormers’ earlier defeat to the Sharks, and that the first-half showing will be important to the outcome.
‘It’s always a tight affair when these two teams play,’ he said. ‘There was three points in it in the first match, five points in the second and I’m sure it will be similarly close this Saturday.
‘[In the Durban fixture] they did well in the first half, they really looked to attack our set piece. When you can’t get lineout or scrum ball on your own terms, it can make life very difficult.
‘We were really unhappy with our first-half performance in that game. We lost a lot of ball in contact and made errors which they duly punished. It’s something the Crusaders did to us in last year’s semi-final, where they really pressured us at the set pieces.
‘We are looking for a good start but we are also looking to sustain that for 80 minutes.’
The Sharks boast an all-Springbok front row and have been one of the leading scrummaging teams in 2012. Their lineout is competitive, which as Coetzee suggests makes it very difficult for opponents to secure good set-piece possession.
They have some powerful ball carriers capable of dominating the collisions, as well as several players who are exceptionally good when it comes to turning the ball over at the breakdown.
Coetzee again highlighted the need for a top set-piece effort this Saturday, as well as an accurate breakdown performance that will limit the Sharks’ turnover opportunities. The Stormers boast the best defence in the competition, but that defence is more susceptible on turnover ball.
‘You can’t give them turnover ball, they use it very well,’ said Coetzee in reference to the Sharks’ performance against the Reds. ‘That’s what happens when you lose the collisions and you don’t look after your possession. And by looking after your possession, I mean winning clean ball at the set pieces too.’
The Sharks won’t be as fresh as their Cape counterparts, having had to fly to Australia and back within the space of a week. Coetzee, however, insists that the Stormers wouldn’t be taking anything for granted this Saturday.
The Stormers coach said the prospect of hosting a final at Newlands would serve as extra motivation to beat the Sharks.
‘This is what we’ve worked for all season, and knowing that we could have a home final is also a massive incentive. We are really close to achieving that. That’s why we view this weekend’s game as a big opportunity.
‘There’s going to be pressure, but we’re going to embrace it. We’re not just going to absorb it, but handle it.’
By Jon Cardinelli
428 Comments
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24 Jul 2012, 08:59 am
@kaksioek-44:
@Sasuke-48:
he will dissapear into mediocrity
another meyer bosman in the making
24 Jul 2012, 08:59 am
@kaksioek-44: funniest post of the week.
Look, all the Sharks need to do is score 4 tries and they should win. The Stormers haven’t scored more than 3 tries in a game all season.
24 Jul 2012, 09:00 am
Hmmm
24 Jul 2012, 09:02 am
@wait for it, wait for it…-46: As a woman, I am more than qualified to guess that Fern is the type to do just that
We women have all had to deal with a ‘no-hoper’ or two in our lives at some stage.
24 Jul 2012, 09:03 am
@Blokkies-47: Good one……………..
24 Jul 2012, 09:05 am
@wooden spoon-52: Stormers havent conceded four tries in a match this season so Sharks should be worried. They will get two at most.
24 Jul 2012, 09:11 am
@Sasuke-56: Look, if the Rebels can outscore your team 3 tries to 2 I’m sure the Sharks can do better.
24 Jul 2012, 09:11 am
@Te Rangatira-4: imitation: the highest form of flattert mate…
24 Jul 2012, 09:12 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-54:
So what you saying is that my friend Fernly reminds you of Jim from American Pie………..” She’s gone! Oh my God, she used me. I was used. I was used! Cool! “
24 Jul 2012, 09:13 am
Sorry Sharkies… imo Stormers will walk this one…
24 Jul 2012, 09:15 am
@Transformation-58:
Whats wrong with these people, that guy was useless.
24 Jul 2012, 09:19 am
@Te Rangatira-61:
24 Jul 2012, 09:23 am
@Te Rangatira-59:
Bloody right my friend.
He also happens to remind me (and I’m sure any other woman who blogs here) of that ONE mistake you make in your dating life, when you are young and innocent…….the one that haunts you for years afterwards. The one that makes you thank all the gods for your husband.
@Transformation-62: They will only imitate those they find threatening
24 Jul 2012, 09:27 am
@wait for it, wait for it…-46: hi gallileo
eish those canterbury “cheats” made mince meat of your bulle!
didn’t I TELL YOU, your team will lose if you have to go to christchurch for a playoff game? hehehehe
you suck in christchurch!
when the score was 16 – 0, justin marshall or nisbo reminded us that the last time the bulls were around those parts the game ended 27 – 0 nc nc nc
“The Stormers and the Sharks are the African title contenders I had expected the Bulls to be. Instead, this year’s Bulls proved to be cumbersome plodders obsessed with kicking the ball to the opposition.
The street savvy Crusaders lapped it up, setting their line, running good blocking lines and punishing a Bulls outfit for their tactical naivety. The Bulls didn’t offer a shot all night. “ – justin marshall
24 Jul 2012, 09:29 am
Barry “the Shark” Manilow is a ******* genius.
24 Jul 2012, 09:29 am
Only a seriously deluded fool can see a sharks win on Saturday.
24 Jul 2012, 09:32 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-63:
Excessive self-promotion is such a dead giveaway for a deep rooted feeling of insecurity or self doubt.
24 Jul 2012, 09:36 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-63:
Fernley said he is just like Ernie Els.
Humble and down to earth.
He is a national treasure.
(Fernley not Ernie).
24 Jul 2012, 09:36 am
Well I guess its tickets for Stormers, they will be beaten to a pulp, the all conquering Sharks have already booked their flight to NZ, the availability of Etzebeth, Bekker and Vermeulen won’t add zilch to that side that got a whoopass at Kings Park.
24 Jul 2012, 09:36 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-65:
Barry Manilow?
The other day you called Jim Reeves a genius too.
Who is next? Charles Jacobie?
24 Jul 2012, 09:38 am
@Robzim-67: Or a dead giveaway for a deep rooted, small and totally ineffective ‘joystick’…. When I read Fern’s words on here, I see Michael de Pinna in the earliest Vodacom ads for some reason. Oiled up torso, combed and plaited chest hairs, medallion dangling, leopard print g string manties…..
Back in a bit – have to go and puke (repeatedly)
24 Jul 2012, 09:38 am
@Robzim-70:
Hank Williams.
legend.
24 Jul 2012, 09:39 am
Checked the Sharks game last night for the first time and Turnstile Bosman tackling himself definitely the highlight.The Sharks probably going to play an injured Jordaan after that histrionics .
24 Jul 2012, 09:39 am
Sharks won’t win on Saturday, purely because they’re performance has mentally shifted the Stormers, if they weren’t already there, to be ably prepared for this semi.
The Stormers, though they haven’t scored 4 tries, have consistently shown how prepared they are mentally for play off games especially in winning games they shouldn’t have.
I said last week its all about the mental aspect at this stage and that the Sharks would win and Bulls lose.
The Sharks will lose as well as the Saders
24 Jul 2012, 09:40 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-63:
HMMM, you know what Pedigree, I enjoy your posts and I remember your first post under your infamous nick, when I think about it , you did have something different, perhaps your women’s intuition,rather refreshing if I must say.
Fernly is a mate to me and I know he has said some unkind things to women on this blog but he has toned it down somewhat and is on the road to recovery, but I know you will keep him on his toes.
24 Jul 2012, 09:41 am
Jim Reeves recorded an album of Afrikaans songs while here in SA shooting a movie about a washed up country singer. That moves him up several notches on the coolness scale.
24 Jul 2012, 09:43 am
@>^..^< katman-76:
The original… Kalahari Kid
24 Jul 2012, 09:45 am
@XhosaKid-69:
haven’t you got some textbooks to deliver?
24 Jul 2012, 09:47 am
Think the movie was called Kimberly Jim..
of iets
24 Jul 2012, 09:48 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-78: No, I didn’t my greedy paws on this particular tender.
24 Jul 2012, 09:48 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-72:
Bruce Springsteen once introduced John Fogerty as the Hank Willams of our generation so I guess old Hank must have been ok.
24 Jul 2012, 09:49 am
@Robzim-81:
all three are… OK…
24 Jul 2012, 09:50 am
Just tried to google Freedom Furniture in NZ and google China threw me out, gotta love this country.
24 Jul 2012, 09:52 am
@stormerforlife1-73: It was the best tackle he has made all season. A try saving tackle on himself.
Blades would have been ecstatic in commentary: “a telling tackle by Bosman on ummmmmmmmmmmm himself, Joel, this can’t be right?”
24 Jul 2012, 09:52 am
@>^..^< katman-76:
Did Ivan Redbroff not also once recorded an Afrikaans song?
The first Afrikaans “rock song” I ever heard was “Vat hom Dawie” by the Bats (Rock with a concertina).
24 Jul 2012, 09:52 am
the only thing that could save the stormers in my opinion is sharks jetlag.
if the stormers can somehow blunt the sharks 1-4 they are in with a shot.
the sharks backrow is very light and rely more than any other side on the frontfoot provided by the heavies.
24 Jul 2012, 09:54 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-78: He’s already delivered them to the corner of Stormwater Drain and Bridge Underpass.
24 Jul 2012, 09:54 am
@Te Rangatira-75: Fern is an irritant, not a danger (except to himself..) Harmless
24 Jul 2012, 09:54 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-68: i am tired of fernly’s pathetic attempt to reach my levels of arrogance! i really hope it’s case of a multinic nonsensical nob gobbler trying his luck!
and anyone hoping for a French style explosion from Freddy this sat, dream on, that cute little frenchie will be kissing my asss post match and i really hope his tongue is of KISS proportions, you get my drift!
24 Jul 2012, 09:55 am
@XhosaKid-80:
Are you saving yourself for the interior decorating tender for Inkwazi II?
@Brigadier Van Zyl-86:
the sharks are going to neutralise the stormers front row by putting a Bar One Cheesecake in their dressing room before the game.
24 Jul 2012, 09:55 am
@Robzim-85:
didn’t the Bats also do a New Zealand rock song too…???
Shabby Lower Hut or something…?
24 Jul 2012, 09:56 am
just teasing, kiwi posters…
was a song called Shabby LIttle Hut…
nothing to do with NZ…
24 Jul 2012, 09:57 am
@ufo-82:
For about 2 years John Fogerty was nearly untouchable- then he just seemed to lose that creative spark or inspiration to turn out a hit song nearly every month.
24 Jul 2012, 09:57 am
@Transformation-64:
ag its all dust in the wind to me, transie… dust in the wind…
i’m moving on from super rugby, will only follow cc and internationals not involving new zealand (spit).
until the irb/sanzar sort this shitt out and rid rugby of this blight, its just not worth losing sleep over.
bulls played badly and the crusaders played well enough to win.
they are still dirty though and there was enough of their play on show in the game.
i wish the chiefs best of luck.
24 Jul 2012, 09:57 am
@Robzim-85: Indeed, he did. Two full albums. Here’s a little RuskieDutchie gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiAyFStYa8c
24 Jul 2012, 09:58 am
@ufo-79: Yes, that rings a bell.
24 Jul 2012, 10:00 am
@wait for it, wait for it…-94:
the Bulls infringed (cheated) all night and Steyn provided the comedy act
24 Jul 2012, 10:00 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-88:
“We’ll just tell your mother that… we ate it all”
24 Jul 2012, 10:01 am
@Robzim-93:
yeah i know bud… one of the greats… rocked to car in my youth…
used to have a record for most number ones in two years or something… which is just about as long as their recording career lasted…
john did an excellent song a few years back about the iraq war called ‘deja vu all over again’… excellent song could’ve been one from the early 70s like who’ll stop the rain…
24 Jul 2012, 10:02 am
rocked to CCR….
%^&*$%^& autocorrect….
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