Perspective required when rating Stormers
30 Jul 2012
JON CARDINELLI writes the Stormers’ campaign was compromised by a high injury count rather than a characteristic lack of composure.
The manner of defeat was disappointing, but was the result really that unexpected? This is the question Stormers fans should be asking following Saturday’s semi-final defeat.
It is usually the case that a team’s success is determined by how far it progresses in a particular tournament. For a regular play-off contender like the Stormers, a Super Rugby title win should denote success.
The Cape side has lost two finals and three semi-finals in the space of three seasons. Their title drought has spanned 11 long years. These are the numbers that critics and fans care about, and these are the facts that will be cited when most deliver their damning post-season reviews.
But to accept this view is to subscribe to a perception that is simplistic, narrow and more than a little hysterical.
I don’t believe the Stormers’ game plan and selections have been flawless, but I do believe the 2012 season has been different to those of the past.
It’s unfair to marvel at the manner in which the Stormers have responded to the challenges of the past five months and then denounce a play-off failure as just another in a long line of mental mishaps.
Indeed, what the Stormers have succeeded in doing this year is convincing a lot of people that they could survive without several key players. In reality, how can a team be expected to go on and win a championship when they’ve lost the quality of Schalk Burger and Duane Vermeulen? The Crusaders are always a less daunting prospect when Richie McCaw and Dan Carter are unavailable, and as the recent season will confirm, the Bulls are easier to beat now that Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez have moved on.
Every team must cope with injuries and losses, but the Stormers’ loose forward stocks were depleted to the point where they had lost their capable reserves as well as their stars.
Nick Koster and Nizaam Carr were ruled out, forcing Rynhardt Elstadt to move from lock to flank. Sanzar turned down the Stormers’ request to include Canadian Jebb Sinclair in the play-offs, necessitating Deon Fourie’s shift from hooker to No 8. Club players like Don Armand and Tyrone Holmes were also promoted to the greater squad.
The Stormers’ results may have convinced the rugby public that they were capable of absorbing the losses, and credit must go to the coaching staff as well as the youngsters for fueling that belief.
Eben Etzebeth, Steven Kitshoff, Siya Kolisi… these are the rookies who made it look so easy during the regular season; they convinced everybody that the gap between junior rugby and Super Rugby was really not that big. On Saturday, however, we were reminded exactly why experience is crucial in play-off matches.
Etzebeth was the exception in the semi-final, showing a temperament and attitude that belied his years, but the other youngsters in the Stormers side didn’t rise for the big occasion. As a result, the Stormers weren’t successful as a collective.
I’m not suggesting that the Stormers are absolutely without fault. I maintain that their kicking game is inadequate, and it was certainly a weakness in their most recent defeat.
Peter Grant has proved a match-winner in front of goal, but his line-kicking is not up to standard. Coach Allister Coetzee complained that the Stormers couldn’t get out of their half in Saturday’s semi-final, and Grant’s boot was partially to blame.
Usually this weakness is offset by the contributions of Dewaldt Duvenage and Joe Pietersen, but when those players don’t come to the party, the Stormers struggle to win the territorial battle.
The set piece is still an area of concern. Kitshoff has emerged as one of the finds of the season, but as a unit, that Stormers scrum has been too inconsistent. The lineout is not the force it was in 2010, as the hookers are struggling to find their jumpers. The much vaunted maul has also delivered an underwhelming showing.
While these shortcomings and areas of concern need to be addressed, there should also be some perspective. The injury situation has forced many forwards to play out of position, and the changes in personnel has often prevented the pack from settling, even if that lack of synergy has rarely been reflected in the results.
Somehow the Stormers managed to top the log with what they had, somehow they managed to convince many people that they had a shot at winning the title. And who knows, if they had won through to a home final, it may have been possible.
There are reasons to feel encouraged if you consider that Burger and Vermeulen will be back for the 2013 season and a number of youngsters will be going into their second season with plenty of starting experience.
While there should never have been an expectation to win the 2012 trophy following the loss of so many key players, there will be great expectations for the Stormers to go all the way in 2013.
For now, a little perspective should ease the pain that accompanies a play-off defeat. Fans and critics must also accept the fact that the Stormers were beaten by the most complete side in the tournament.
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249 Comments
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30 Jul 2012, 08:26 am
Rugby won , and the Sharks was the only team playing on Saturday
30 Jul 2012, 08:29 am
Back to Saturday, what was with the Stormers dropping all those balls? Pietersen had a mare – probably his worst game of the season.
Still, the Stormers did top the log and their fans should be happy.
30 Jul 2012, 08:33 am
Another forward pass from JDV to Aplon to run through and score.
Is it some sort of Jedi mind trick?
Or are these refs just plain blind?
30 Jul 2012, 08:33 am
My team choked again. But that’s not the reason they failed on Saturday. They are:
1. The Sharks turned the Stormers’ own game back onto the them or let me re-phrase: The Sharks perfected Rassie’s gameplan.
2. Peter Grant. He is not a modern flyhalf. He is just Bash. He hasn’t got quick enough feet and does not think fast enough for the modern game, especially Super Rugby (just look at the young Kiwis and Aussies coming through the system into Super Rugby – they play and fare like brilliant Lambie) Grant cannot get away with this weakness, because he has another major one: his inability to kick for lines.
3. The Stormers’ obsession with running into the opposition instead of running into gaps from different and variable angles. This is a coaching problem for which Fleck should answer, but Coetzee also.
4. Their inability to fully grasp their own ball game. Turnover with defence, means you have to speed up the ball (yes, classic beautiful All Black rugby) and if and when achieved (sometimes forced into multiple phases of course) then hit hard with fast and furious ball carriers. WP and Stormers had the wrong type of players backing Burger, Vermeulen and Koster (not a good example as he tends to vanish like a Spies). On Saturday they kept on hitting whether in defence or offence but seemed so awestruck that they could do nothing else.
5. Attack, like defence, is a mindset, a mentality. If you do not have the will to attack it will never happen. The Sharks had a mindset to attack and defend, and they had players to play their game – in mind and in body. The Stormers had neither.
30 Jul 2012, 08:34 am
@Xkreni-WP-12: And you don’t have the balls or the brains to run a ‘rugby blog’ – if that is what one calls your attempt at journalism. No playoffs for you, ever. Suckmyhoring.
30 Jul 2012, 08:35 am
stormers defence has alllowed them to fluke a few games this season.
never has a side with such a poor attack topped the log.
oh….and peter grant is pants. Can’t even punt 20m.Hell, there was even a kick at posts that the stormers turned down because it was out of his range even though it was still in the sharks half. Fck…that’s par for the course surely?
30 Jul 2012, 08:37 am
@CenturionShark (aka LondonShark)-47:
yip… the sharks centre stocks looking very healthy indeed…
@kaksioek-50:
is that genuine…?
why just against the aussies…?
strange..
30 Jul 2012, 08:37 am
Stormers need to win something quick otherwise any decent player with ambition will move to another franchise.
We’ll take Etsbeth at the Bulls.Cheers.
30 Jul 2012, 08:38 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-56:
No, that kick was within his range. It was just poor decision-taking.
We were screaming at them to take the kick and take the points.
The Stormers gameplan was flawed in the first half. When we kept ball in hand – like in the middle of the second half – we looked like we were able to run the Sharks off their feet.
But no, for the entire first half we persisted in kicking possession back to the Sharks, who then capitalised on some serious weaknesses under the high ball amongst the Stormers backs.
30 Jul 2012, 08:40 am
@kaksioek-52: Most fans are pretty satisfied Saddam.A few hysterical fans (in the mould of the ‘Axe Plumtree now’, Sharks crew)are screeching for a maximum overhaul, when tweaking is required. One or two heads can roll within the playing ranks, and one in the coaches setup (Fleck). Nothing wrong with the rest.
I expect your crowds facebook petition to be up within minutes should you crash to the Chiefs.
30 Jul 2012, 08:44 am
anyway i feel for the players…
fans acting ‘like their father or their dog just died…”
imagine how the players feel…?
chin up guys…
still proud of the you…!
30 Jul 2012, 08:46 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-58:
he needs coaching to be more of a 4 than a 5 though.
sometimes he’s even a loosie.
he shouldnt be, he should focus on being a 4.
30 Jul 2012, 08:47 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-60: Fans like you make Saturday so much more enjoyable! How **** must your team be to lose at home, after a week’s rest, to a team that you believe is **** and had just travelled to Australia and back to beat the defending champs?
30 Jul 2012, 08:47 am
Biggest load of **** and I am a Stormers supporter ! Have much more to add , just Monday morning blues (made worse cos of the loss). Will have my case in a few mins.
30 Jul 2012, 08:48 am
@WP Till I Die-59:
no, didn’t look like they had the confidence in him taking the shot at that range not when he can’t even punt them out of their half. In hindsight I;m surprised Aplon wasn’t put in a position to do more field kicking as he has a better boot from what I’ve seen.
30 Jul 2012, 08:49 am
@kaksioek-63: And if the Sharks bomb to the Chiefs, they too would have wasted everyones time
(On a far larger scale than the Stormers did….)
30 Jul 2012, 08:50 am
@ufo-57: Yup:
Bledisloe Cup finale for Sonny Bill Williams
LIAM NAPIER
Last updated 05:00 29/07/2012
Sonny Bill Williams will wear the All Blacks jersey twice more this year in back-to-back Bledisloe Cup matches against Australia, before leaving New Zealand rugby.
The New Zealand Rugby Union is quietly negotiating with Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights to allow Williams to take on Robbie Deans’ Wallabies.
The Wild Knights wanted the superstar midfielder to take a three-week break before he joins them in September for a 12-game stint said to be worth $1.7 million.
But the Sunday Star-Times understands the Chiefs second five-eighths has made himself available for the two Bledisloe Cup tests in Sydney and Auckland on August 18 and 25, subject to his Japanese club agreeing.
All Blacks’ management will select Williams on the basis that the best available players should be chosen to meet Australia. The reality is that Williams’ blockbusting form this season has been too compelling to overlook.
The tests against the Wallabies are set to be his swansong from New Zealand, provided he gets approval from the Wild Knights. After his stint in Japan, he is then expected return to rugby league with the Sydney Roosters next year, continuing his code-hopping exploits.
Williams is understood to be excited over the opportunity to again play for the All Blacks and the NZRU will help smooth the way with his Japanese club. With experienced centre Conrad Smith to be sidelined for six weeks after eye surgery and Richard Kahui out after shoulder surgery, Williams’ presence has become increasingly important to the All Blacks’ depleted midfield stocks.
It’s understood Williams will be selected purely as a No 12, ruling out a possible call up for Crusaders second-five Ryan Crotty and the Hurricanes’ Tim Bateman. A combination where Ma’a Nonu shifts out to centre is being strongly considered. Highlanders utility Ben Smith could also play centre and team-mate Tamati Ellison is another midfield option.
Williams’ name will not be announced in the All Blacks training squad tomorrow. Chiefs players are exempt from next week’s two-day camp in Wellington as they prepare for their Super Rugby final, to be staged in either Hamilton or Cape Town next weekend, depending on the overnight result between the Stormers and Sharks.
The 26-year-old’s addition to the All Blacks 28-man Rugby Championship squad, which will be unveiled next Sunday, will polarise public opinion, with sections believing he should not be given the chance to add to his 17 caps after announcing intentions to move in a different direction. However, Williams has received the backing of All Blacks team-mates, including captain Richie McCaw.
“If he’s available, you saw the way he played tonight. If he’s keen and it all works well I don’t see that being a problem to be honest,” McCaw said after the Crusaders’ season ended on Friday night.
“Losing a guy like Conrad who is very experienced, having Sonny available, he’s got some experience now, it would be positive.”
All Blacks playmaker Dan Carter echoed those views. “They are pretty important matches first up. It’d be great to have him in the team. If he’s available and can play it would be huge for us, especially with Conrad being out.”
- © Fairfax NZ News
30 Jul 2012, 08:51 am
OK I cannot describe the feeling of dissapointment after Saturday. Congrats Sharks: You were the better team on the DAY.
Unfortunately I cannot help but feel This is all coming nicely together for NZ to conspire getting the Final.. Do not get me wrong! The stormers lost this game all by themselves!! two reall ysoft tries given away for nothing!
I feel It is time that AC catch a wake up and realise you need to be able tocscore tries even if it is not four in a game, you need to be ABLE to score tries… It is hard to take that all by Bulls buddies celebrated like it was a bulls victory in a final on Saturday, when the stormewrs were the best chance of SA getting the title..
Lastly, not to be sour, but i feel the Chiefs are gonna slaughter the Sharks after their game against the Saders. SBW, Cruden etc will expose the sharks backline…
PS: I put the full blame on Fleck, he must be the only person that did not think that the sharks would field a different team than the one anouncend… It is you job to make sure you prepare your players for everything!! Time for a specialist backline coach
30 Jul 2012, 08:51 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-66: Did you get the washing done? Good, time for the ironing.
30 Jul 2012, 08:53 am
For me, the biggest let down was Bekker. The flat-track bully of SA rugby.
With the sharks operating with a make shift lineout you’d have thought the Stormers would have been at the Sharks lineout all game long. Particularly with their natural height advantage right along the line.
Alas, I can’t even recall Bekker calling his number on his own ball.
what a bang brook.
30 Jul 2012, 08:54 am
JC were the Stormers in 2 finals in the last 3 years? I remember the 2010 Soweto final… The other?
30 Jul 2012, 08:55 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-55:
Hey papsak p u ss y, I dont have to run a blog. Keo does it all for me.
does it hurt to have your team choke again???
30 Jul 2012, 08:55 am
Stormers your team is getting better and the youngsters are coming through… Just stop losing them to the Bulls…
30 Jul 2012, 08:56 am
@THE MAULER-71:
think he is talking about the cc final against the sharks.
30 Jul 2012, 08:56 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-55:
I see that you are a her (note not lady) Rossoneri, hater, racist perhaps?
30 Jul 2012, 08:57 am
Aha… Thanks Brigadier…
30 Jul 2012, 08:58 am
@Provvas-68: In order to win anything you need:
A Front Row, Sharks have one =yes
Locks that both work , Sharks have those =yes
Flyhalve that can dictate game, Sharks have one =yes
Loosies that can play, Sharks have those =yes
Postive game plan, Sharks have one =yes
Strompies have none of the above
30 Jul 2012, 09:00 am
@kaksioek-69: Nope, I went for a cycle in the Majik Forest, followed by a few stops on the Durbanville wine route. Very pleasant indeed. And not a Sharks wearing widget to be seen (except for 2 portly fellows in Tygervalley earlier in the morning, one near the banks, and one near Woolworths….)
Did you spend the day researching travel effects? And just how valid any travel excuse will be/or not?
30 Jul 2012, 09:03 am
@capebull-77: When you did not rate the Stormers locks I knew you just talking k@k!
were JP blown up for taking grant out from the ruck coming from the side in the last seconds, shoudl walsh have given the penalty and the stormers scored, what would your excuse have been then? the stormers lost in a semi… the bulls have not been in one now for two years!! even with their so called gods playing last year they were not there!!
I will be here next Monday when the Chiefs are champs and NZ have conspired again nicely to be seen as the rugby al mightys…
30 Jul 2012, 09:04 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-78: You lost on Saturday , like the 3 years before , HM was right to select Eben as the only Bok . JdV will end his career soon. What is it now 11 or 12 years,….
30 Jul 2012, 09:06 am
the biggest concern for the stormers is that they keep losing playoffs at home.
losing away is one thing…but at home,that is just daft.
30 Jul 2012, 09:07 am
@Provvas-79: How many balls the the 3m Strompie locks steal from Sharkies on Saturday ????
Eben played alone , Bekker could be better than JP on the wing yes.
30 Jul 2012, 09:10 am
@Provvas-79: I agree with you the Bulls have been k@@K the last two years , at least they won someting as recent as 2010.
Strompies ………does 2001 ring a bell
Go Sharkies we all except the suurg@t Strompies, support you on Saturday.
30 Jul 2012, 09:10 am
gotta love it…
congratulations to all these bulls fans…
your team beat the stormers on saturday… you must be feeling chuffed with puffed-pigeon chests…
30 Jul 2012, 09:11 am
I was wondering how long it would take for JC to produce a heap of steaming sh it article like this.
Comparing the loss of Vermuelen to the loss of Matflield or McCaw.
It really is quite laughable.
30 Jul 2012, 09:12 am
I see there is consensus here; our flyhalf did not rise to the occasion.
I guess the challenge is that you feel that you don’t want to single out one guy but I have been saying all along: the 10-12 axis is where things happen.
Dewies also did not fire.
The rational me expected this defeat, but of course I hoped that maybe, just maybe on the day they will pull off what would have been a lovely victory.
This is where Freddy Michalak is so valuable. His opportunistic approach is what is needed in these play-off situations. Bash did not quite make that mental adjustment. You have to steal a game from the opposition.
Stormers and Province need better 9,10 and creative 12. Jean in the late part of his career not fast enough to be a 12; JdJ also not the answer.
This is where the Stormers must ensure that Elton Jantjies is signed; they can even add a ‘weekly haircut in Mitchell’s Plain ti-own centre’ .
The Sharks will have to contend with Cruden and SBW this weekend and that’s a very unpleasant prospect.
Chiefs by 12 (I’m sorry Sharks fans)
30 Jul 2012, 09:13 am
Sour Stormers supporters supporting the Chiefs…
30 Jul 2012, 09:14 am
@Xkreni-WP-72: All class. I don’t do racial hate. I do class hate. Trash is trash, and you are kicking it like Taebo on the trash scale. How many crotch scratches have you had this morning?
All class, all in.
@capebull-83: Why do you feel the need to announce your support for the Sharks? I promise you the Almighty isn’t making lists of who does, who doesn’t.
30 Jul 2012, 09:14 am
@ufo-84: No we are chuffed cause we admit that the Sharks are better than the Bulls, and that finallly a team that wants to play Rugby won against a team that wants to kill the game of rugby.
30 Jul 2012, 09:18 am
@John Galt-85:
lol
it’s a little funny
30 Jul 2012, 09:20 am
@capebull-80:
What is the aim of this post of you?
You said:
” the Stormers lost”– well, duhhh.
“Eben the only bok” – that is not true
“Jean will retire soon”- everybody knows that as he is in his thirties
“11 or 12 years” – this story is as old as the story of Noah and his ark.
Try post something original.
30 Jul 2012, 09:20 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.-88: Cause Rugby finally won over boring negativety.
Cause the whole year we had to suffer with commends from the likes of you on why:
The Strompies are the best in SA
HM is a fool not to pick all the Strompies
PGrant is by far the best 10 in SA
Strompies have the best front row
Strompies have best locks
Srompies have best centres
The list goes on and on.
30 Jul 2012, 09:21 am
@Robzim-91: I will do, as soon as you accept the facts.
30 Jul 2012, 09:23 am
@ufo-61: seeing habana & aplon crying was touching but seeing my dad frazzled was so nice either
30 Jul 2012, 09:25 am
@capebull-92: And how is that any different to what Bulls fans have been singing since the year 157BC?
Pot, kettle, BLUE.
30 Jul 2012, 09:28 am
The Stormers’ inability to score tries lost them this match and the tournament.
It should have happened earlier in the season but their defence has been impeccable.
There must have been quite a few bodies hanging of the lampposts outside Newlands on Saturday night.
A real banana peel moment, this tournament was the Stormer’s to lose.
30 Jul 2012, 09:30 am
wheres Tacticus post match evaluation.
that should be good for a laugh.
30 Jul 2012, 09:31 am
The Durbanville wine route?
Tell me more.
30 Jul 2012, 09:32 am
@capebull-92: Congrats Cbull on your victory on Saturday.Your team were the best on the day.Good luck for the final
30 Jul 2012, 09:33 am
@capebull-93:
Stormers lost= fact
Bekker is useless= opinion
Stormers loosies can’t play= opinion
etc…etc…
U catch my drift?
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