The forecasted Stomers team against the Cheetahs

My forecast is that the following team will take the field against the Cheetahs on Saturday:-

15   Pietersen

14   De Allende

13   De Jongh

12   De Villiers

11   Aplon

10  Jantjies

  9   Groom

  8   Vermeulen

  7   Rhodes

  6   Kolisi

  5   Bekker

  4   Steenkamp

  3   Malherbe

  2   Bezuidenhout

  1   Kitshoff

16   Fourie

17   Cilliers

18   Grobler

19   Car

20   Duvenage

21   Taute

22   Howard

The Cheetahs are not easy babies at Bloemfontein - and with Earl Silky Hands Jantjies and  Juan Scything Tackle De Jongh in the Stormers side - they are going into the match with a double blessing.  My guess is another loss for the Stormers this coming weekend with the faint hope of a bonus point being possible..  

if the cheetahs match them upfront the rest of the AC rubbish game plan falls to bits. i hope the cheetahs get in early and score a few points early to make the stormers chase the game. expect some dirty stuff from the stormers as i am quite sure they can compete on pure rugby terms this weekend.

I just read elsewhere that Swiel joined the training group of the Stormers on Monday.   There can yet be a turnaround in Stormers performances i they could play the following backline  insofar as backline attacking rugby is concerned:-

15   Taute

14    Pietersen

13    De Villiers

12    De  Allende

11    Aplon

10    Swiel

  9    Groom

However, Coetzee is "married" to the idea to persist with Silky Hands and with the useless De Jongh and nothing will change his mind on those two.   Four disasters by Jantjies and Coetzee still see nothing wrong in that player and two seasons of no attacking capacity by De Jongh and he is still in the team.  How stupid can a coach be?????

 Mike, the Stormers are screwed. The same old problem: Forwards blowing hot and cold, AND we don't have a proper 10. We will struggle to get into the top4 from here onwards. We have played most of the top teams allready, but we must still tour. We shall be lucky to reach the playoffs at all this year. Time to see what Swiel can do, we have nothing to loose, he can't be worse than Elton.

PS: Taute has shown nothing to date to get a starting spot in the Stormers line-up.

DDDraad

With both Habana and Van den Heever out - they have no option - but to play Pretorius on the wing if ever they wish to get back winning.   However, the Jantjies and De Jongh debacle will continue and one can only hope that a miriacle happen to change the closed mind of Coetzee.  He will never admit he was wrong with Jantjies and he is aboslutely stuck like a broken needle on De Jongh.

Draad against the Saders, Taute came on and immediately, badly missed his first and only tackle attempt. Thereafter,  he ran the ball back every time he got it and racked up 66 metres in 6 carries. But he never beat one tackle and never made one offload.

That means in spite of having space and a running start, this guy can't step, power or accelerate his way past one tackle. He can't pick out one forward to beat. He can't see where and how to link up with his fellow players. All he does is run into the first opposition player and get knocked over.

He looks like the backline version of Deysel. Why people think there is something special here beats me. But Ou Maaik is on the record for picking Taute for Bok 15....so he continues to pick him.

Mozart

It has not entered your thinking processes yet that Habana and Van den Heever are both injured - has it not?   I only picked Taute at full back because of that scenario for the team I would suggest to have a chance against the Cheetahs - but that is really a faint hope taking into account the handicaps Coetzee saddles the Stormers all the time. .   What ekse would you suggest as a solution to that probllem?  

After being an excellent flyhalf for two seasons for the Lions - I had real hopes of Taute coming to the party as a full back.   You apparently completely missed out what I wrote about him recently.   Let me put it bluntly - he has been most disappointing in his performances for the Stormers.   I think like Francois Steyn - he put on too much weight and it slowed him down considerably.   He really looks slow when running with the ball - and his kicking game is atrocious - he missed touch when he should find touch  and kicked balls out directly when he should not.  Another wasted talent - I am afraid to say. 

Coetzee coaches the Stormers to wins over the Chiefs and Brumbies on consecutive weeks. The third week he comes within a few inches of beating the Saders....and he is now useless? What rot. I'm sure the team he selects will be the best available, given the constraints.

Taute looks rusty and clearly not happy with the lack of game time. He is a far better player than the bits we have seen of him this year. It has only been bits. Moz you gave the exuse for de Jongh needing to be match fit, Taute is the same.

At least de Jongh gets to start, Taute has to feed off scraps. Taute had one of the best strike rates in last years S15 and that was through beating defenders, not running straight into them. He looks a shadow of himself at the moment, but he is getting very little rugby.

Taute is hesitant and playing with no conviction. He is not backing himself at all. In that last move of the day, he should have drawn the last Saders defender and put Joe away for the try. He passed far too early - it was poor

Mozart

By picking Jantjies and De Jongh Coetzee is picking the best players available - really you must be joking!!!!! 

Mozart

By picking Jantjies and De Jongh Coetzee is picking the best players available - really you must be joking!!!!! 

Maybe so Dave.....I had also thought he would be better at 15, but so far I can't see any signs of him reading the play.

Ou Maaik you are a broken record. I have provided de Jongh's stats for the Crusaders game.....they were fine for a tough encounter. You are also missing how fast he closes on his opponent. What did the Saders outside backs do....diddly. That's because the Stormers stifled their attack.

We all know Jantjies should never have been bought and Cat should have been kept. I said that long before you, so stop trying to act like some kind of prophet. But Coetzee I'm sure has lots of pressure to play Jantjies, and what is the alternative, given Grant is hurt? Swiel? You have to be kidding....start a highly inexperienced kid versus using him off the bench? Get rea!

Joe has offered nothing for the Stormers at 15, Taute needs to start and be given game time. With that he can settle and make an impression.

Players cant be expected to set the world alight off the bench in a side that is struggling. Poor de Allende has suffered being disposed to the bench......he made a great impression in his last start only to be left sitting on the bench and getting no time to impress.

Poor call by Coetzee, much like leaving Taute on the bench

I agree that Joe has not added much in general play Dave and giving Taute a full go makes sense. That, however, means Jantjies has to kick. Which at this this stage, is probably warranted......if Jantjies can't do that.....he has to disappear, his general play is a liability.

The one start Taute got at the beginning of the season against the Bulls was crashball city - unimaginative, boring, aimless. A product of the Stormer game plan? perhaps. What certainly wasn't a product of the game plan were his back to back  kicks directly into touch during the Brumbies game. He has a lot yet to prove before he should be considered for the Boks - consistency being one of them.

He played in a lot of meaningless game time at the Lions last year when the match was over well before the final hooter - one wonders if that had anything to do with his "success" there. That space just doesn't exist in a close game, much like it didn't exist when he played for the Boks last year.

stormers should easily beat the cheetahs, but more then likely they will just win but not dominate.

stormers have had the bulke of thier hardest season matches laready, while the cheetahs have had the bulk of their easy matches & IMO as much of an eye candy as the cheetahs brand of rugby is, logic dictates that fairy tale run is now about to dop a uturn.

jaco taute needs to start at FB, the only reason the outside back has been tinkered with as much as it has is because of janties goal kicking.
big loss with van der heever out of the eqaution, hes a real talent who will fill in habanas shoes for the stormers uite nicely in years to come.

i agree with mozter, give janties the goal kicking dutites and let him build up his confidecne. the quality of the opponents that the stormers in their fixtures will go along way to helping with that.

i really love the looks of sweil, but half of the saffa clubs problem is just throwing players staright into the deepend. let him come of the bench and gradually ease him in is the smart way to go about it.
janties was poor last weekend, but there were many players who were not at their best, i really think janties will come right with the next few games, he cane get any worse,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, can he??? o_O, LMAO, :oP

my backline against the cheetahs would be exactly like mikeys, except i would have janties at 10 and sweil on the bench.

Mozart

The De Jongh case is really an argument in futility.   He remains a useless attacking player - whatever stats yoiu wish to use.   I prefer the stats over the past two years that proved that conclusively - you chhose to ignore them completely.

And on defence he is a reasonable defender - sometimes out of position - but never a tackler that tackles a player back or let to loss of the ball to the opposition,   Those are the facts of life - whether you like itor not.

Your bit about the Crusaders backline performance is really laughable and not backed up by facts anyway  

I believe he is a liability to any team - you believe he is an asset.   The Stormers would do better if they identify better players than this average to mediocre player. 

I have no issue with Jantjies general play if he keeps it up there with his Brumbies performance. He let is slip against the Saders. If he plays he should kick as its a strength. It would appear Coetzee is laying on the cotton wool when it comes to Jantjies. One poor kicking performance and we saw the kicking duties passed on to Joe.

I can understand that they want to let Jantjies settle into the role and taking the kicking responsibility away from him would help this cause.......but one has to draw the line at some point. There is no merit in wasting Taute on the bench in the name of letting Jantjies settle.