Stormers are ready for brumbies

Ex Supersport

The DHL Stormers team that will face the Brumbies in their first match of the Vodacom Super Rugby Finals Series at Newlands next Saturday has already been hard at work preparing to play those opponents.

While a team of mostly fringe or back-up players took the field against the Cell C Sharks in the last league match at Growthpoint Kings Park, the first choice players were back in Cape Town resting after a hard week of plotting and planning for what effectively amounts to a quarterfinal.

Although for a time there was a chance that the Stormers might get a bye week before the play-offs after all as the Reds held the Waratahs in Sydney in the first half, Coetzee said that he never doubted his plan to freshen up the first choice players for the anticipated three match sequence of knock out matches they will be required to win in order to lift the trophy for the first time.

“The plan was put in place a while ago and we were always going to stick to it, I would do the same thing again even though I am disappointed that we lost the final league game to the Sharks, it is never nice to lose,” said Coetzee.

“Players like Damian de Allende, Dillyn Leyds and Cheslin Kolbe have been involved in almost all our games and training sessions, and this is an opportune moment in the season for us to give them a chance to freshen up. We need sharp players to win in the play-off phase, and it worked for us in last year’s Currie Cup.

“We have already been working on playing the Brumbies with the players who stayed in Cape Town. We have focused strongly on improving our defence of the lineout drive, something that the Brumbies have become really good at and rely heavily on. Of course there was also a chance we might end up playing the Chiefs, so we focused a bit on them too, so it has been a busy week.”

Coetzee is still hopeful that skipper Duane Vermeulen will be ready for next week’s game, and says that he and hooker Scarra Ntubeni are the only players in his squad under any doubt for the Brumbies clash. And as it turned out, the Sharks game served to allay any concerns about the effectiveness or readiness of the back-up. (Please note all those unfortunates who knocked the Stomers efforts!!!) 

“Duane is doing well. We got a third opinion on the causes of his neck spasm on Thursday, and the news is all good. But Nizaam Carr captained the team against the Sharks and is in good form and will be a more than capable player at No 8 should he be required. It is really hard to prepare a team to play against a settled combination in just one week, and I think we saw that against the Sharks. (I have in vain tried to give context but some oaks are not up to the mental challenge!!!)

“The guys were very eager, but the team synergy wasn’t there (As pointed out by Beeno prior to the match), and that led to the mistakes that the Sharks pounced on to score their tries. But individually there were players who did well, and I was very pleased with the form shown by Michael Willemse, who will be the back-up hooker next week if Scarra remains in doubt.

“Mikey hasn’t started for us this season but he did well at the lineouts and I was pleased with the aggression and intensity he showed in general play.”

Another player who did well when he came on as a replacement was Kobus van Wyk, who may be in line for a recall to the team next week after his injury lay-off as his physical presence might be required against a Brumbies team that boasts some big outside backs such as wing Henry Speight. It will be an interesting dilemma for Coetzee, as Seabelo Senatla has shown promise since returning from national Sevens duty while Dillyn Leyds has progressed as a wing. (Everyone except afew here realise this small backline is a big problem!!! Its the view of professionals as compared to amateur armchairt critics!! Hahahahhahahaha)

Overall, Coetzee feels his team are more ready for the play-off phase than they were in 2011 and 2012 when they bombed out in home semifinals.

“Back then we had a hooker playing No 8 because Duane was injured and we also had other injuries that weakened us. This time we have boxed clever during the season by managing the players and we go into the knock-outs with a squad that has depth to it and with most of the first choice players fit and ready to play.” (How long did it take Coetzee to box clever. How clever does one need to be to manage your players. This is the trouble with Coetzee he just isnt that sharp! Other instances are - defence only startegy tried for years. Picking a backline that collectively is too small.)

The other match in next week’s round of play-off games will be played in Dunedin on Friday, with the fourth placed Highlanders hosting the Chiefs.

HERE WE WILL PROBABLY BID A FOND FAREWELL TO JW'S CHIEFS.  IT IS UNLIKLEY TH ESE PRETENDERS WILL MAKE IT THROUGH AGAINST THE HIGHLANDERS

© supersport.com

 Wee stormers had less points than the Crusaders but because of  OAFs (Official Anti-fairness System - led be SA corrupt officials) the stormers "qualify".
The Chiefs and Highlanders will be a good display of rugby. Chiefs will have their hands full as the Highlanders have a well balanced team. Canes look the best of the bunch of course.
PS wee stormers should be able to beat the Brumbies as the stormers have the "home field advantage". One can only hope the TMO is not blantantly biased.

Please JW get real. We were robbed blind on a number of occassions by bent refs. You could add another 12 points to our total and subtract some from the hapless hurricanes. We could have topped the log with decent officiation!!!!
Chiefies will start well and end in a wimper . Bwhahahahahahaha
I also hope the TMO is not "blantantly biased. Fair go mate is my motto JW!

 Beeno: Companies should hire you has an accountant as the books would always look good - regardless of reality

 JW I am simply providing context. Three dubious tries is one thing. Synergy another. 
Reality is my forte Jw! You should know that by now. How often do I post stuff and low and behold the expert opinion later backs me up. It cant be coincidence surely!

 "Low" and behold??....Classic English Hasbeeno!!

The Brumbies are a better defensive side and a better attacking side. Will the scrum prevail for the Stormers? One thing I can tell you, that lateral attack will be snuffed out by the Brumbies. Advantage Larkham even before the whistle. Hope I am wrong.

Beeno: the dictionary definition of synergy includes the following, it explains a  lot, lol:
Synergy: "the cooperative action of two or more stimuli or drugs."
For context, when you use this word it should include a hyphen, i.e. con-text this would alert the reader to the low reliability of your post.
Glad you are up-beat about the stormers chances & are not inundating us with pre-game excuses.

 Saders have more points than the Stormers yet the Stormers make the Top 6 = bent. Reality is and never was your strong forte Beanhead.

Hakwa, thank t he Aussies. We never wanted this farcical revamp, and when Saffers spoke out we were called cry-babies. How things have changed! The fact of the matter is that the playoffs must be scrapped, it must be a league where every team plays each other once, with each fixture being rotated on home and away basis. 

 What is bent hacked waagh is how many points the Saffa sides were robbed of. Given fair reffing the crusties wouldnt come close to the Stormers points.
Waht is most perplexing is the kbbs recognise when the bulleare being robbed blind in Oz but cant see it when ref favours their team. Now that is real bent  

 Yes amazing how the conference system saffas and Aussies fought for  means that even though the stormers are 7th overall they somehow get a homeground playoff ?I thought you saffas didnt like this business of letting the scrawny or fat kids who are no good at sports have a mandated place with all the other kids ?Werent you one of those droning on about your government forcing inclusion upon your teams ? Yet you want things rigged to allow your teams to compete ?Pffffttttt disgraceful .You should be ashamed.And no lestat it wasnt us wanted this farking nonsense ,why would we ?Affirmative action for the once proud saffas ,not including that beandik sh!thead .

The conference system is a way to ensure that the countries that have weaker rugby teams still get through. The idea is to help rugby in Oz mainly but it looks like SA needs help also. If qualification for the playoffs was based on win/loss records kiwis would dominate even more. Not good for the supporters/finances of other countries.

 Anyone make sense of this latest rant by ou warped DUD.  He is living in a time warp.
The oak must surely be certifiable!

 Yes Beeno I understand Wardad's point & there is some truth to it. Think about it for a while.

South Africa needs no assistance, we are going through a lean period where the next gen are finding themselves and the old are being phased out. Added to that, the long serving coaching staff is being replaced. 

 Oh so I see ,all you troubles are our fault ? Pffffttt your a farking halfwit you are .The fact is it was pressure from bigger countries and your desire to once again play against countries that didnt have a grubby political system that made you change your despicable regime .Black racism ? Did you speak out against the white version ?Your a total farking tool you are .Yeah NZ is responsible for all your ills eh ? Fark off and die you pratt.

 That's a tad rich Leracist complaining about the ANC and their quota system when your lot wouldn't even allow coloured people to play in the Bok team. Really hard for you to accept you are no longer in charge and really lucky the ANC allow ANY white players into the National rugby team!You made your bed over a couple of hundred years so now be prepared to lie in it you complete removed removed removed removed etc....

Your lot? I am mixed race imbecile (no connections whatsoever to any white ethnic group in South Africa). Best not speak until you know what you are talking about. 

But lets speak about some of my ancestors shall we? Lets speak about the holocaust. My ancestors suffered some of the most horrific horrors in human history, yet I do not choose to be pathetically weak in pointing fingers and demanding handouts. I could very easily spit my dummy out like some racist black people do. I could very easily sit online all day saying how evil Russians and Germans are, but I don't. Equal rights means equal responsibility, and that is the problem with these race driven initiatives, they demand rights but without responsibility. And example of this would be easier grade boundaries for exams, higher priority in positions irrespective of experience or qualification, one ethnic group having to pay for another. That is not equality, and therefore I do not support it.

For the record, my stance has always been that if you hate the apartheid era, you have to hate the ANC era. They are both responsible for the same things. You cannot support one form of racism and criticize another, not without being a hypocrite anyway! As I have spoken of before, apartheid was abominable and was rightfully dismantled, but what replaced it is no better. They are working to achieve the very same policies, and they are getting away with it. How can a person support that? Unless of course they hate the 'lily whites' and want revenge, that would mean being racist!

Bwahahahaha! Ward and moola, its all your fault!! Now take it on the chin dammit!! Aus and NZ and any other country that stood against apartheid did absolutely no wrong! The fact that the ANC has completely forgotten what they fought for, and now protect war criminals like Al-Bashir and dictators like Mugabe, has nothing to do with NZ and Aus, and everything to do with South Africa's voting public.  

 Yes lepratt you can pine away for the 'good old days' of apar.theid all you want it just shows what an rse you are even if you are a mixed race imbecile [ I suppose your imbecility is our fault too ?] Was it us that did everything possible to get yet another cellar dwelling saffa team into the conp ? Was it NZ that made this stupid conference system which will now be even more gimped ? Why the fark would NZ want a system that keeps teams like the Crusaders out even though they finished ahead of the ' stormers' And ALL your problems are of your own making you farking tool .Far k me sideways next thing you will be saying as how Kiwis are responsible for the Holocaust !Sheesh never imagined someone making that beanfarktard look clever but there you are  mr Imbecile .

"Yes lepratt you can pine away for the 'good old days' of apar.theid all you want it just shows what an rse you are even if you are a mixed race imbecile"

What good old days of apartheid? Was I born under apartheid? Did I benefit by apartheid? Do I long for apartheid? Do I want one ethnicity favored over another? No. So at what point do you think you are making? You succeeded in making a fool of yourself. Quote me on supporting apartheid, I dare you! You will find no such thing, but you do show up your racist mentality; if I don't support racist regime x, then you attack racist regime y, because you are deeply programmed to have a "them v us" mentality. I have never supported or benefited from apartheid. I don't want it back either. Just as I said in my previous post, it was abominable and the very pinnacle of idiocy. Surely you read that before posting? 

 Sounds like you already have easily spat your dummy Leracist!Tell me, do you think SA would have ever changed if pressure wasn't brought to bear?I hardly think so and if you are from a mixed race who suffered horribly then you should be grateful for the intervention and not bagging it you twat! You sound like one bitter mofo...

You sound like an ignorant fool Moola. Here's the problem for you:

I HAVE NEVER AT ANY POINT SUPPORTED OR DEFENDED APARTHEID
I, NOR MY FAMILY, EVER BENEFITTED FROM APARTHEID

You, being the racist that you are, are insistent upon acting as though I have so that you can play your game of racial mud-slinging. Is the penny finally starting to drop? 

You are making very little sense in your posts because you are not reading what I am writing. If you did, you would either just openly confess to being a racist and that you couldn't give a stuff about equality, or you would agree with me. As it was, you took the long winding path to nowhere, congratulations!

 Like all nasty wee racis.t pricks you try to do this nonsense where its EVERYONE else who is .And being 3 parts meshuggenah doesnt make you mixed race ,it just means your farking loopy .And as moola says would you saffas have changed otherwise ? Dont blame us cos your a fecking grub.Your fu.cked up politics are all your own doing so man up and suck it up . Tool.

Everyone else? So you and Moola are everyone? What I have done is point out exactly how much of a ridiculous hypocrite the pair of you are. A person who uses relativism to justify one atrocity over another is most definitely the lowest of the low.

"And as moola says would you saffas have changed otherwise ?"

What point are you trying to make? Probably not is the case. As I have said before people do not like to change until there is external pressure. I support pressure to undo any unjust course of action. Now I say the current ANC must experience pressure. Will the current regime change and revert from racism if it doesn't experience external pressure? You tell me, then tell me why you think it is okay to justify it.

"Your fu.cked up politics are all your own doing so man up and suck it up."

My own doing? Who have I got in my bloodline connected to the beneficiaries of apartheid? Not a single one. I have no Afrikaans or English blood in me for a start. No Dutch. Can't either of you read? Yes, internal politics is South Africa's own problem, but who allows it to extend itself globally? Why is it justifiable to the point where the current ANC regime is being allowed to do exactly what they banned the previous regime for doing? Are you really so foolish that you cannot grasp this very simple fact? Racism. You are quick enough to criticize South Africa for apartheid, but cannot fathom enough character to say,
"You know what Lestat, we should not be supporting South Africa's inclusion in Super rugby or test rugby until they sort out these racist selections. We did the right thing before and must do it again".

That's the problem.

Best not speak of my cultural background which you know nothing of . 

 Who gives a shit what race you breckon you are ?Us Kiwis certainly dont .Couldnt give a fark what you call yourself your a halfwit no matter where you came from.And WE DONT FARKING CARE ABOUT YOUR POLITICS !!!It belongs to you ya mong .You sure some bloke named "Eye-Gor" didnt pluck your brain out of a jar labelled "Abbey Something ?"And you dont want to get into a "my ar.se is blacker than your ar.se " comp with us Dear "Abbey "We didnt turn your people into whatever you think they are now ,you did .Idiot.

Wardad, please note that this small-minded racist plonker LeTwat is not representative of South Africans and he doesn't speak for the vast majority of us.

Please tell us all again how black people make you want to puke RooineKKK. And who is the majority "us" you refer to RooineKKK? 

Wardud, too inherently dim to read. But from what little garbled nonsense he produces we can learn this:

1. The lily whites must be enslaved.
2. It's okay to profit from racism so long as it isn't in your own country. 

Great stuff Warpdud. And yes it does matter where I'm from and what ethnicity I am when making racial inferences! But tell the lily whites how much you hate them again! Both feet in mouth.

NO Vermeulen.
Carr is a decent replacement however Thor will be missed.
He needs to get right for the WC.

Pfffffffffffffffhahahahahahaha!
What a weak little person Letwat is!
It wasn't more than two days ago that this snivelling little creature tearfully declared that he was never going to speak to me again and wanted nothing more to do with me, and here he is already - not two days later - whimpering for my attention like a blubbering little child.
Tell me, LeTwat, can you find a quote of mine where I said black people make me puke or anything even remotely similar . . . or are you just regurgitating Drivelling Avocado's pathetic lies? It's not a rhetorical question, little chap, so either produce the quote or count yourself among the board's low-life losers like Moffie and Drivelling Avocado who can't argue or debate like grown-ups and resort to childish little fibs to try and hold their own.
Ask mummy what the word "majority" means and if she doesn't know then I'll try to explain as best I can. Yes? There's a good little chap. You run along now . . . and stop telling naughty little porkie-pies . . . okay? 

Lets not get stirred up by ou Warped DUD. He wants race based selections here to help their rugby cause and because of his racist inclinations. However we want merit selections just like happen in nz.

 Congrats England! Poor show bokkies. Your wheels came off big time...and time again.

 Well argued Lestat. Where are Oz and Nz now that there is reverse discrimination going on. Clearly theirs was not a principled stand otherwise they would be raising their voices. No it when it comes to sport it suits them and thats all that matters.
Away with race based selections and all who support them. Away with Oz and Nz hypocrits supporting race based selections in South Africa.
Beeno booting these racists into to uch!

 Welp, I know a few of u wont like this but I'm happy that all 3 conferences get represented in playoffs whether it is deserving or not. NZ and SA have very strong national provincial competitions to fall back on for local pride. Aus need as much national exposure as possible to make our Rugby Championship strong. It just so happens to be SA that benefits from the decision. No ones fault as all 3 countries agreed to it 3/4 years ago.
I also like that there are fewer inter-conference games. Well, I don't really like it, but I remember seeing an interview with a few NZ'ers (including Ritchie) who were all saying that one of their main concerns was playing so much rugby. One of the ways SANZAR decided to combat this was with fewer traveling which I think has helped. IMO this was a welcome change for SA players/teams as they had to travel further.

Maybe to make it a little 'fairer' they could seed the final 6 by league points instead of giving byes to the top 2 conference leaders and giving home advantage by league points. Either way its not going to be absolutely fair as it is always going to favor the weaker conference and penalise the stronger.
At the end of the day, the focus should always be to grow the strength of southern hemisphere rugby. In my opinion, this helps to achieve that. 
There are a lot of things that I feel could be improved but I'll save that for another post. 
Mate, I'm just so glad the Hurricanes are doing well this season. Good luck on the teams you are supporting this week.

 Good farking grief letwat is major league stupid .Where in the farking 9 hells did I say anything about slavery you farking mong .And where do you and half wit beansh!t reckon we're profiting from racism in NZ ? One of the least racist and least corrupt places on the planet ? We dont have a problem with race but a tiny minority of saffas like you and your sweetie beanfark certainly do ,as Rooie says just a tiny brained minority . Idiot.

 Wardaddy, you lot are reacting to what you think LS is saying and not to what he is actually saying. You are argueing revenge. So, according to you lot, due to apartheid, it is fair to have racial prescribed teams and political intervention in rugby? You think Mugabe is a hero? That it? Come now, forget the politics, and lets focus on rugby, or are are you lot scared to play against a Saffa team sellected without interference. ...last one being the 86 team that kicked your arses around the block.

 DB Draad you dont seem to get it do you ? We arent responsible for what happens in your country YOU are .Are you responsible for what happens in NZ ?Who the fark is arguing revenge ? You saffas are re sponsible for all that happens in your country .And who the fark is supporting mugabe ? Did we mention mugabe or support the ANC ? The only people to mention mugabe or the ANC are you saffas.To reiterate your politics are YOUR problem and frankly I couldnt give a shit anout the ANC or mugabe as I certainly didnt vote them into power .They are your problem created by you .Scared ? WTF are you dribbling about ? Who has the better record ? pffft ,.Farking people from the land that invented apart.heid moaning to Kiwis about YOUR COUNTRIES POLICIES .Utter idiocy .

 Draad you are trying to debate with a foul mouthed racist half wit. Its an impossible task.His "contributions" shows he has no clue whatsoever and is merely a confused and narrow minded bigot.His mummy should wash his foul mouth with soap 7 times a day. 
Yes  Nz and OZ had a lot to say about apartheid but are dead silent now. Shows they have no principles on this matter. The mong thinks by saying this we make them responsible for all that happens here!! With this type of comprehension skills ou warped DUD reveals what a utter DUD he is.  I spotted this problem right from the beginning! 

Wardad, don't forget that when you're dealing with the likes of Baboon-ou and LeTwat you're dealing with simpering little crybabies with a victim mentality who are incapable of taking any kind of responsibility or accountability. It's always someone else's fault. "Boohoohoo it's all new Zealand and Australia's fault that we no longer have apartheid! Sniff . . . whine . . ."
No surprise that these same weak little individuals are the same blinkered half-wits who cannot accept when their team loses in rugby. It's always the ref's fault or the TMO or else the poor dears have all these horrid injuries and it's just not fair that no-one else ever has injuries as bad as theirs.
Just have a laugh at the blubbering little crybabies.