Stunning win lifts Stormers
THE Stormers reverted to type at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, playing the percentages and the result was a stunning win for a young team against a Springbok-studded Bulls unit.
THE Stormers reverted to type at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, playing the percentages and the result was a stunning win for a young team against a Springbok-studded Bulls unit.
The Cape side lived up to captain Duane Vermeulen’s assertion last week that the Stormers will “play winning rugby”.
He was in the vanguard for the famous 29-17 win and never lost focus on what was most vital — taking points when the opportunity was there and playing in the right areas of the field.
There is an obsession in Cape Town at times to see the team running the ball from everywhere in an attempt to entertain. Even coach Allister Coetzee fell into that trap last season.
But the coach is moving on to Japan at the end of the campaign and he does not have to pander to public sentiment this year. So he has reverted to minimising risk.
Winning is all that counts and in Vermeulen he has a captain who understands the value of territory in an increasingly suffocating game.
“You seldom score tries from 60m-70m out, it’s all about field position,” Coetzee said. “You have to be in the opposition’s territory and we were clinical in exiting and from there we were able to put pressure on them.
“You take the points when they’re on offer. We would like to score more tries but we had opportunities and that’s important,” he said.
Winning at Loftus in week one was a massive statement by the Stormers. The Bulls had not lost on home ground since the 2013 semifinal — ironically a day when they chose to punt several kickable penalties to touch instead of taking the points. The direct opposite of what the Stormers did.
Bonus points are important in the final analysis, but not as vital as winning games, and especially away matches. The need to cross the chalk will not and cannot be ignored, but the team’s mantra is about making good choices.
And they made many at Loftus on Saturday, even after they were rocked back by an early Bulls rolling maul try.
“We had to stay composed and play in the right areas,” Vermeulen said. “The guys understand what we want to do and they executed well.
“We went out with a mind-set of, ‘know your job, do your job’. They did that.”
On early evidence the Stormers will be able to produce more tries than in their lean years because the pack appears to be excellent. Tighthead prop Vincent Koch, on loan from the Pumas — but surely to be offered a permanent contract in the coming weeks — was devastating.
His scrumming technique, power and ability around the park mark him as a potentially pivotal figure in the Stormers’ campaign. With set-piece superiority, a good understanding of their gameplan and a coach comfortable enough to stick to it, there is no telling how good the Stormers can become this year.
Add the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Schalk Burger, Siya Kolisi, Frans Malherbe and Jaco Taute back into the selection mix in coming weeks and there is just cause for optimism.
Naturally the coach and captain tried to tone down the performance and the result, but it was an impressive outing so early in the campaign.
“It’s a good start and we can take many positives out of it, but this game is over and we have to refocus to play the Blues because they are a different challenge,” Vermeulen said.
But four points at Loftus Versfeld is worth dwelling on, if only for a day.