DHL Stormers coach Robbie Fleck reflected after his team’s narrow 17-11 loss to the Chiefs that he might have preferred the humiliation of last year’s quarterfinal exit to the disappointment he felt after the latest loss.
Fleck may change his mind later, for the way the Newlands quarterfinal was contested at the weekend reflected the strides that the Stormers have made this year. Whereas 12 months ago they were out of their depth in their first match of the season against New Zealand opponents, on Saturday it was nip and tuck all the way, with the two teams cancelling each other out with strong defensive efforts.
Unlike in 2016, when the Stormers lost 60-21, and frankly were fortunate to get the 21, this year’s quarterfinal wasn’t the wake-up call. Although they lost, the Stormers know they are on the right track, and the corrections they started making from last August are mostly starting to take effect. The Stormers didn’t struggle with the pace of the game this time, the defence was most definitely up to the challenge, and they more than held their own in the physical exchanges.(BY NOW YOU CAN SEE HOW WAY OUT THE LOONS LIKE POOR ROOITWIT AND WEE CC ARE!)
Perhaps it was only some of the decision making that let them down this time, with the Stormers back three possibly being faulted for allowing the Chiefs to dominate the first half territory battle. It was that aspect as much as the Stormers’ indiscipline that enabled the Chiefs to lead 9-3 at halftime after three penalties in quick succession before halftime.
That’s though why Fleck was so disappointed after the game – he knows that a win would have dramatically and emphatically underlined his team’s progress over the 12 months, and the feeling of being so near and yet so far didn’t sit comfortably with him after a high pressure game that was decided by narrow margins.(TO LISTEN TO THE LOONY BRIGADE YOU WOULD THINK IT WAS A MASSACRE! THESE LOONS NEVERTHELESS DO HAVE COMIC VALUE)
“The fact the game was on a knife edge and we lost makes it worse,” admitted Fleck.
“Last year was humiliating and it was a different sort of feeling. We knew then that we were just way behind after not playing New Zealand teams and that we had a lot to learn and to catch up on. This one was a lot tougher to swallow, particularly after the road we have travelled and the progress we feel we have made over the past few months.
“We had a chance to go ahead there towards the end, and even again after they scored their try we still had a chance to come back. But we did not take our chances. I don’t know if the best team won, but we do feel we have become a better outfit over the past 12 months and it would have been great to underline that by winning this game.”
Yet while Fleck was struggling with the disappointment of having presided over yet another home play-off loss for the Stormers, which means the same hoary old questions will be asked if the Stormers get that far again next year, he said he was happy with the space the franchise is in at this point of what he said was a three year plan.
“It has been a long journey for us since our big loss to the Chiefs last year, and I am happy with where we have got to and where we are at the moment,” he said.
“The things questioned of us last year were the conditioning and skills and decision making. I feel we have made a massive leap in the right direction. They defended very well today, so it was difficult to get our attacking game going against them, but we also defended outstandingly well.
“It was a difficult game. There were errors from both sides, so it was hard to pin point where the game was won and lost and why we lost and they won. Individual errors probably let us down. I thought our set-piece was good, although we did struggle in one or two lineouts. Our mauls were working effectively, and we kept the Chiefs from crossing our line until five minutes from the end, where again it was an individual error that let us down.
“When it comes to decision making, I felt that territorially we were put under pressure with kicks onto our back three. Maybe we should have reacted to that earlier. We could have found some kick space had we looked for us and they were giving us free ball. I was surprised how much the Chiefs kicked, but in the end it worked for them. We could have been smarter. We could have put attacking kicks in behind them to expose McKenzie.”
Fleck, skills coach Paul Feeney, conditioning coach Steph du Toit and forwards coach Russell Winter will now take time off from hands on coaching with the Cape senior group to focus on doing what Fleck did this time last year, which is to go overseas in search of inspiration and information that will make the Stormers stronger in 2018. They will also help out with the coaching of the age-group teams, which is an area that has become more and more crucial to a franchise’s success as players graduate much quicker to senior level than they used to.
John Dobson will take charge of the Western Province Currie Cup challenge, which begins with a tough away trip to the champions, the Cheetahs.
BEENO PROVIDING MUCH NEED PERSPECTIVE TO THE RAVING L UNATICS POSTING ON THIS BOARD.
