The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Super Rugby SA Conference preview: The Stormers

Roar Guru
20th January, 2015
26

The Stormers, have historically been the third best team in the South African conference since their inaugural season in 1996. Since then they have appeared in four semi-finals and a maiden final against the Bulls in 2010.

They have topped the South African conference twice and completed one of the most successful seasons in the history of Super Rugby in 2012 when they finished minor premiers and lost only two matches out of sixteen in the regular season.

The Stormers call the tourist capital of South Africa, Cape Town, their home and represent the entire Western Cape region. They reside at DHL Newlands stadium, commonly called the “heart of South African rugby” and the second oldest rugby union stadium in the world.

The home support is also commonly called “the Newlands faithful” due to their unrelenting support of their team. Since 1996 Newlands has posted the biggest average attendance in all of Super Rugby, standing at 40,234 in a stadium capacity of 50,900. In 2002 the Stormers became the first Super Rugby team to welcome their millionth spectator to their home ground despite the fact that they did not participate in the 1997 season.

In the domestic competition in South Africa, the Currie Cup, Western Province stack up as the best team in its history with 33 premiership titles to their name, 10 more than the second placed Blue Bulls, 23 titles more than the Golden Lions at third and 26 titles more than the Natal Sharks at fourth. Of the last five years Western Province have made the Currie Cup finals four times, winning two, including the 2014 title.

Despite their dominance in the domestic competition, the Stormers have not been prominent in Super Rugby with only one final to their name and four semi-finals. Due to their tendency to lose out in play-off games they have been dubbed the official chockers of South African rugby. Their latest Super Rugby campaign saw them slump to a terrible eleventh place after winning only seven games in the season and losing nine

They redeemed themselves somewhat in the Currie Cup in 2014 by winning the competition. They won eight of their ten regular season games before dispatching the Blue Bulls 31-23 in the semi-final at DHL Newlands and the Golden Lions by 19 points to 16 in the final at the same venue to extend their record to 33 titles since 1892.

The Stormers have undergone various game plan renovations since the beginning of 2000 and have struggled to perform consistently for the past 15 years. After back to back Currie Cup trophies in 2000 and 2001, Western Province suffered an agonising decade of disappointment as they waited for their drought to be broken in 2012 against the Natal Sharks.

Advertisement

Up until the struggles of the early 2000s, the franchise had always been known for an attractive style of play. Western Province rugby had always been based on a solid forward foundation and enterprising backline nous and they transferred those beliefs to their Super Rugby personification as the Stormers. Unfortunately as the title drought continued, the Stormers became influenced by the Bulls’ less enterprising gameplan and the success it brought to them.

Since the mid 2000’s they adapted a heavily forward-based gameplan featuring a lot of tactical kicking, unfortunately this new style of play was not accompanied by improved results. With the appointment of Rassie Erasmus as head coach in 2009 however, the Stormers reverted back to their enterprising play while still implementing their structure and they finally they began to make progress.

In 2010 the Stormers ended second on the overall log and had scored the fourth most tries in the entire competition while conceding the fewest. With Erasmus at the helm the Stormers made it to the final against the Bulls in Pretoria, but lost in controversial fashion.

This signalled the end of Erasmus’ tenure and assistant coach Allister Coetzee took his place in 2011. This season saw the Stormers edge closer to their recent defensive mindset, but they still managed to score a few tries that saw them end in second place on the ladder. The Stormers’ struggles in sudden death football continued, as they lost to the Crusaders in the semi-finals at DHL Newlands. This in turn sparked a defensive revolution.

The Stormers believed that their attacking impetus in 2011 led to their downfall and that they had to convert to an all-out defence mode. They did this in 2012 and it yielded their greatest ever Super Rugby season, but they were again undone by the Sharks in the semi-final.

This proved to be the turning point to the Stormers’ regression. As the stats suggest from the early 2000’s to around 2006, the Stormers played a good brand of attacking rugby only to falter in each season excluding 2004. From 2007 to 2009 the Stormers tried their hand at the Bulls template and this also yielded no real results as they watched their great foes ascend to two championship titles in 2007 and 2009.

For a brief moment in 2010 and to a much lesser extent in 2011 the Stormers tried to revert back to their roots and while this did give them a final it also proved to be largely ineffective. Now they have persisted with the defensive orientated game that saw them complete the 2012 season in top spot, only to no avail once more. They have finished 7th and 11th respectively in 2013 and 2014.

Advertisement

The Newlands Faithful have begun to express their frustration in the past two seasons and have started boycotting the team in terms of crowd attendances. As testimony to this in 2012 the Stormers averaged a crowd of 41,025 only to regress to a disappointing 33,545 in 2013 to the most recent all-time low of 24,934 in 2014.

The Stormers’ fans are furious and with good reason. They have watched the greatest domestic province in the whole of South Africa slide into mediocrity in Super Rugby for years now and demand better. The Stormers have the finances and the resources to lift their standards and they have the biggest production line of talent in the entire country to back them up as well. There should be no excuses.

2015 Season preview:
The Stormers start their campaign with a 3-2 split of home-and-away games before their first bye. Valentine’s Day sees the Stormers battle it out with the rival Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in what should be the grudge match of the weekend. After this they will face the Auckland Blues for their first home game at DHL Newlands before travelling all the way back past Pretoria, straight to Johannesburg to face the resurgent Lions at Ellis Park.

I predict the Stormers to lose two out of their first three games. Like in 2013 the Stormers will find that facing the Bulls at home in the first game is not an ideal situation. Due to the tactical superiority of the Bulls and the rustiness of the Stormers I struggle to see how the men from the Cape will win this one.

The Blues are the team I predict the Cape side to defeat. Newlands has been a fortress for them for the past few years and as the Brumbies, Chiefs, Hurricanes and Highlanders found out over the last two years, the Stormers tend to win there regardless of form. The game against the Lions could swing either way but I do feel that the Lions will take it just like last year.

The two games after this will be the Stormers’ toughest games in succession in 2015 as the Sharks and Chiefs swing by DHL Newlands in search of campaign defining games.

The Sharks game is tough to call due to the teams’ fondness of away matches, so I’ll go according to script by giving the South African conference favourites, the Sharks their win. The Chiefs game is also just too tight to call. The Chiefs will go in as favourites and deservedly so. They should take it, but you can’t disregard the Stormers.

Advertisement

In 2013 the Stormers lost both their opening games against the Bulls and Sharks only to win back to back games against the Chiefs and Brumbies the following games. Those two teams happened to be the finalists of that year and the Stormers managed to score 36 points against each. But for the sake of form I expect the Chiefs to take it leaving the Stormers in dire straits, with one win from five before their bye.

After this horrific start they will embark on their overseas tour which might be a good thing given the pressure that is sure to be mounting back home. The conveniently placed bye ensures that they’ll be fresh when they arrive in New Zealand to take on the Hurricanes and Highlanders respectively before embarking on a trip to Australia where they will encounter the Waratahs and the Western Force.

Both the Hurricanes and the Highlanders always have the potential to be the juggernauts of a season in very much the same vein as the Stormers. It’s another tough prediction to make seeing as historically and statistically the Stormers have been the very best South African team in Australasia. They have won more games in New Zealand and Australia than any other team in their conference. Yet I cannot bring myself to the conclusion that they’ll beat either Kiwi team.

I don’t see them beating the current Champion Waratahs either, especially at Allianz Stadium. This will leave the Stormers with only a solitary win from their opening eight games. I do however, have the confidence to say that I believe the Stormers will beat the Force and in doing so double their win total before they head back to the Republic. Two wins from nine… Ouch.

Upon return to Newlands they will be greeted by the exciting prospect of revenge for their first loss against the Bulls by hosting them at DHL Newlands. After that they will face the Cheetahs away from home in Bloemfontein before rounding it off with a clash against the Brumbies prior to their second bye.

The Stormers generally don’t lose two games in a row against South African opposition and I expect the century long rivalry at home to be enough incentive to give the Stormers the win over the Bulls. Again no disrespect intended to the Cheetahs, but with all their stalwarts having left I don’t see them beating a young but settled Stormers line-up, even away from home. Like in 2013 I think the Stormers will cap this stretch off with their first big scalp of the season by beating the Brumbies in Cape Town.

By this point things will look a little bit better with five wins and seven losses, leaving them only two wins away from equalling their efforts of 2014.

Advertisement

After their second bye they close out the season by facing the Rebels, Cheetahs and Lions within the confines of Cape Town before ending their season against the Sharks at Growthpoint Kings Park. Their three home games should all transfer into wins I would imagine as the Stormers typically grow an extra leg when playing at Newlands. Last but not least I believe they’ll get one over the Sharks whether if it’s in this game or the game at home in Round Four .

This leaves them with a realistic nine wins scenario which would be considered an improvement to their current mediocre standards.

Overall the draw is rather average. The tour Down Under is not that horrible, but they are faced with a multitude of tough games at home. Depending on their actual form this draw could actually be a very good one for them.

Still, if there is one thing the Stormers must correct this season it is something that can’t be achieved by the players. If they are to succeed they must discover the reason for all their injuries year in and year out. For the past five years the Stormers have had the most injuries of all teams in the comp.

In 2010 they suffered 12 injuries in the regular season, followed by 10 in 2011. After this things get hectic.

In 2012 they suffered a total of 16 injuries in the season wherein four were loose-forwards. In 2013 the number increased again to a total of 18 injuries. Nothing, however, compares to the staggering 23 injuries suffered in 2014.

Injuries are part of the game. It’s an inevitable fact that every team must accept. Your players will be injured and sometimes for long periods of time. As a Stormers supporter I never want to use injuries as an excuse for my team’s performances, and truly I never do. You will never see me blame injury for poor performances.

Advertisement

But as in 2014, a line must be drawn. You can’t expect a squad of 40 players to continually perform when more than half of them are injured. The question must be asked. Is there something wrong with their conditioning? Why is it that certain Stormers players are always injured for long periods of time? Duane Vermeulen has had a horrid run of injuries with the franchise as has Eben Etzebeth and Francois Malherbe. Rynhardt Elstadt and Andries Bekker are also familiar with the injury ward.

Even Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has expressed his disbelief to the franchise’s injury toll. The problem must be identified and resolved.

In saying that, the injuries are also a testament to the Stormers’ depth. As mentioned they suffered 16 injuries in 2012 and still managed to win all their games bar two. In 2013 they suffered 18 injuries and still just missed the play-offs. Last year despite 23 injuries they managed to win seven games as well.

Lastly the Stormers and in particular Allister Coetzee has expressed his confidence in his young players. Make no mistake there isn’t much experience in this team. Out of the 36 players that assembled in for the pre-season camp in Hermanus only a few were seasoned campaigners. The average age of the group was a mere 24 years old.

Can the Stormers finally stake their claim in SANZAR’s premier club competition?

My Stormers team for 2015:
1. Steven Kitshoff (183cm, 120kg)
2. Scarra Ntubeni (177cm, 100kg)
3. Frans Malherbe (190cm, 123kg)
4. Eben Etzebeth (203cm, 125kg)
5. Ruan Botha (206cm, 120kg)
6. Schalk Burger (193cm, 114kg)
7. Rynhardt Elstadt (196cm, 115kg)
8. Duane Vermeulen (193cm, 116kg) Captain
9. Nic Groom (170cm, 80kg)
10. Demitri Catrakillis (177cm, 87kg)
11. Cheslin Kolbe (170cm, 75kg)
12. Damian de Allende (189cm, 105kg)
13. Juan de Jongh (177cm, 90kg)
14. Kobus van Wyk (190cm, 95kg)
15. Jaco Taute (188cm, 102kg)

close