Well oaks what did i say about The Stormers being the better side! Ex Supersport:
What he called the “cheap shots” of a Reds team that were determined to put his DHL Stormers off their stride added to the frustrations felt by coach Robbie Fleck during his team’s 25-19 Vodacom Super Rugby win at Newlands on Saturday.
Although there was just six points in it at the end, the Stormers were clearly the better team for most of the match and Fleck was right to feel a bit put out that they did not win by a lot more. (AS NOTED BY THE ESTEEMED BEENO!!!!!!!!!11)They were 18-0 up after half an hour, dominated the Reds physically for most of the game and spent most of the second half camped in opposition territory.(YOU GETTING IT SOBOLOBSKY AND OTHER MISCREANTS)
However, that old Stormers malaise of poor execution in the attack zone let them down,(AS NOTED BY BEENO) and it nearly cost them in the end. Then there was also some rather questionable refereeing, with Marius van der Westhuizen letting the Reds get away with a non-engaging approach that blunted the impact of the Stormers scrum and thus prevented the home team from sorting out their opponents in a legitimate and traditional rugby way.
That the Stormers felt that they needed to make a scrumming statement and force their opponents to engage was because of the high and armless tackles - let us be direct and call them shoulder charges - that blighted the early part of the game. Reds coach Brad Thorn was a renowned hard man during his career as an All Black and Crusaders lock, and it is not surprising that one of his early achievements as coach of the Reds is to turn them into a physical and at times brutal team. (SHOULDER AND TACKLES ARE COWARDLY)
“They are quite a robust team and it was a bit disappointing from our side that the cheap shots that they dished out early in the game were not recognised by the referee,” said Fleck.
“There were at least four incidents that weren’t dealt but that is something that we can look at in our review on Monday. I was a bit frustrated. We were clearly the dominant team and dictated most of the game. But execution let us down.(FAIR COMMENT)
“Full marks to the guys though for not letting the Reds’ robust approach and the cheap shots put us off our game. The guys set the tone early and we produced some good hard play and were rewarded with points in the first half. It was important for the players to retain composure in the face of the Reds’ physical approach and they did so admirably. It was something we anticipated and spoke about last week.”
Skipper Siya Kolisi agreed that the Reds were over robust in their approach but said it helped that the team knew what to expect.
“I am sore at the moment. We know their coach and what type of player he was and every player in their team is clearly told to be physical,” said Kolisi.
“Even their scrumhalf is a very physical player. It is going to be a tough week for us and we are going to feel it tomorrow (Sunday) but hopefully by Monday we will be over it because we are playing the Bulls at Loftus and that is very exciting for us. The important thing was that we were prepared for the cheap shots. We knew what was coming in the form of late hits etc.”
Fortunately for the Stormers, only one player was injured during the physical encounter, with scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage being forced to leave the field with injured ribs. He was replaced by Justin Phillips, who has not played for a while, and he looked a bit rusty. But he should be able to shake off some of the cobwebs in time for the Loftus trip should Duvenage be unable to play, while Springbok Jano Vermaak is also playing again and available for selection.
In terms of the Stormers’ inability to convert the pressure that was applied into points, there were several contributing factors, one being the lax refereeing of the scrums, another being the cynical approach of a Reds team eager to spoil, while the late changes to the team sheet that have become almost a regular occurrence for the Stormers didn’t help either.
JJ Engelbrecht pulled out at the last minute because he was troubled by a haematoma, and that forced Fleck to reshuffle his back three. Craig Barry, initially selected to play fullback, had to move to wing, with George Whitehead slotting in at fullback.
“George hasn’t played for us for a while and when he has trained with us he has run mostly at flyhalf but I actually thought he did very well with his positional play. Craig Barry did well too after jetting in just two weeks ago from the Cheetahs. But it is hard when there is so little continuity. Hopefully we will be able to get some continuity for next week.”
SP Marais, Dillyn Leyds and JJ Engelbrecht are all expected to be available for the Loftus clash, so after Barry’s good performance and the steady showing produced by Whitehead the extra depth that has been developed might have been one of the positives of what Fleck appeared to think was an otherwise forgettable match against the Reds.
“I am happy we won but I am just frustrated we made such hard work of it on the scoreboard. Our dominance on the field should have given us a bigger winning margin and that frustrates me,” said the coach.
WHAT IS CLEAR IS THAT BEENO SUMMED I T UP JUST RIGHT!
