When one thinks about the Stormers, a few things come to mind. Rock solid defence, the best crowds in Super Rugby, a marvellous stadium and a determination to satisfy their passionate fans scattered all across South Africa.
What also comes to mind, sadly, is that they currently play a brand of unattractive, boring rugby. Their management is exceptionally poor, they can’t look after their local talent and above all else, they are the undisputed chokers of South African rugby.
When one delves into the history of the Stormers’ progenitor, Western Province, and the success it has yielded in the past century you can’t help but wonder what’s gone wrong in the past say 20 years.
Most don’t know but Western Province is historically one of the best provincial sides in world rugby.
After 120 years of their existence they still possess the most Currie Cup titles – a grand total of 33. Western Province, along with the Blue Bulls, are the only teams in South Africa to have featured in every single final in every single competition they have competed in.
They have won the Currie Cup, the Lion Cup, the ABSA Nite Series and the Vodacom Cup but are yet to win the elusive Super Rugby title.
The Stormers or Western Province used to be the most exciting team in South Africa. The Western Province tradition has always been to play a 15-man rugby game, to entertain, to score tries, to perfect a beautiful brand of running rugby.
In the days of old it was always a cracker to watch a Province versus Freestate game. In the days of old, Province constantly produced some of the most talented players in the world.
In the days of old, Province was successful
On the 15th of August 1928 Province managed to do the unthinkable by beating the All Blacks 10-3, something that numerous Test teams have never been able to achieve.
They repeated this feat on the 16th of July in 1976 again, this time the score was 12-11 in their favour. Between these two legendary games, Province also claimed a dramatic 17-6 victory over the Wallabies in 1963, a game most plaudits claim to be a true Test match.
In 1984 Province drew with England 15-15. They have defeated the British and Irish Lions on numerous occasions including three times in 1903 and another match in 1924.
In 2010 they defeated all five New Zealand Super Rugby teams in succession. Western Province has defeated the most national and combined teams of all provincial sides and have a rich history of causing unbelievable upsets.
The Stormers and Western Province have more than enough incentive to be the dominant force they once were in the days of yesteryear. They average the biggest crowds in Super Rugby, with their average being around 45,000.
Their stadium, Newlands is known as the heart, soul and home of South African rugby and is the second oldest stadium in the world. The Cape media provides the most support and criticism of all media networks in South Africa.
The airports are always full of fans wearing their sacred blue and white hooped jerseys upon their arrival. The Western Province rugby union is financially stable and together with the Freestate, the Western Cape serves as the biggest production line of talent in the entire country.
The Newlands Faithful make very sure that they are the most supported franchise in the whole of Super Rugby.
But how are they not more successful? Could it be their management?
Handré Pollard, Willie le Roux, Francois Hougaard, Morné Steyn, JJ Engelbrecht and Jan Serfontein are just a few examples of players who played in the Western Cape before moving on to other clubs. All of them are current Springboks.
Imagine the disbelief of Stormers fans when they heard that not one but two amazing, promising fly-halves from their junior levels were snatched up by the Bulls and Sharks.
For years now the Stormers have struggled to assemble a potent 9-10 combo. Had they held on to Francois Hougaard, Tim Swiel and Handré Pollard they would’ve had a very potent 9-10 axis. Hougaard would never have been reprogrammed to suit the Bulls’ kicking game and he and Pollard could have sparked a talented but underused Stormers backline.
Had they held on to those players the Stormers could’ve been able to assemble the following backline: 9. Francois Hougaard, 10. Handré Pollard, 11. Gio Aplon, 12. Damian de Allende, 13. Jean de Villiers, 14. Sailosi Tagicakubau and 15. Jaco Taute.
With Pollard, de Allende, de Villiers, Tagicakubau and Taute all about 190 centimetres and 100 kilograms, that backline would have been massive.
Their coaching is also to blame.
All credit where it’s due to coach Allister Coetzee, but it was also his frantic switch in game plan that caused the Stormers to regress. His men went from a team that scored magnificent long-range tries in 2010, to struggling to cross the stripe last season.
After the Stormers lost to the Crusaders in that vital play-off in Cape Town in 2011, they came to the conclusion that they lost because they attacked too much and did not have good enough defence.
So they shook things up. From the first minute of play in 2012 it was obvious to see that they worked very hard on their defence and decided to abandon their attack. While that produced great results in 2012, by the time 2013 arrived they had been figured out and have regressed ever since and now by the looks of it they want to convert back to the all attack mode again.
Gert Smal’s appointment as Director of Rugby said as much. Smal himself stated that he wants to bring the Stormers back to their roots and play a traditional, 15-man Western Province style game again. And since the Highlanders game you could see that he meant that.
Stormers and Western Province rugby has been in a state of decay since 2001 and things are worsening by the year. Smal has stated that he might bring in a new look coaching staff in the Currie Cup or next year to realise his dream of transforming the Stormers’ gameplan.
Stormers rugby is a very political place to be as well but Smal, having coached the side before knows how to handle that.
So the question on everyones mind is, an Gert Smal save the Stormers and bring them back to their former glory?
Only time will tell.
etienne marais
Guest
You are wrong Armand. If you persist in this false claim, please link to a reputable source for your figures, and I will humbly apologise.
Armand van Zyl
Roar Guru
This year is the exception. Usually the Stormers do average that much especially in 2010, 2011 and 2012. SA Rugby magazine supply graphics yearly of the crowd attendances. This year is different because the Stormers public is boycotting the team. Their fans are sick of the boring gameplan, the management and their inability to win the big games. But in all the previous years 45,000 is a very accurate statistic.
etienne marais
Guest
Armand, you make some rather extravagant claims above. One that certainly cannot be correct is this one: "They average the biggest crowds in Super Rugby, with their average being around 45,000." Care to source the claim ? (As far as I know the highest crowd attendance at Newlands for a Stormers game this year was just over 33k, whilst the average is well below 30k for 2014. In contrast, Ellis Park and Loftus, have on several occasions hosted in the 45-49k range.)
Johnno
Guest
Harry good article here on the Bok exodus breaks it down. http://www.iol.co.za/sport/rugby/springboks/unpacking-the-bok-exodus-1.1689502#.U7xDZ42SxhM
Owen McCaffrey
Roar Guru
Actually I was meaning Andre Joubert but I got that wrong, he was a shark. Veteran like Percy at the back was similar to Joubert, similar roles of kicking and experience and steadying the ship.
Harry Jones
Expert
Agree on your major point. Still, sooner or later, we have to pay the stars more or they will ALL go to France, Japan, etc. But given that WP simply did not have a really convincing flyhalf, I would have thrown the checkbook at Pollard. Still, you are right about giving time before we anoint him (as Spiro did recently) the heir to Can Carter. Coleman bloody outlplayed him last week! Haha! Love derbies--they bring out the best in the underdog. Pollard seems level headed and will learn from it.
chris
Guest
Look the Bulls have been gambling big on youngsters for a number of years now. Guys like Williams Small-Smith, Swanepoel, Ruhan Janse van Rensburg, Wian Liebenberg and Jacques Du Plessis are all on million rand (or close to) contracts with very little game-time to show for it. What is happening is that the Bulls are inflating junior players' salaries to a point where nobody can afford to keep their established players when foreign clubs come knocking. Getting into a bidding war with a compulsive gambler is never a good idea. Taking the conversation a little away from the topic at hand. Every body working themselves into a lather about the kid, but he is not yet the finished article. Granted he is 20 years old and will probably improve. But there is a long way to go with his distribution and kicking games before he's as good as people are claiming him to be. Maybe once he reaches that point we should chuck the cheque book at him.
Harry Jones
Expert
Great post, Chris. As usual. We should have thrown silly money at Pollard, instead of stupid money at Jantjies, Grant, Catrakilis.... Coleman is OK, though. Pollard was one of those guys that always looked like making it at Super level, at least. The loss of our locks was devastating.... I think WP will always have enough talent; we need smarter coaching.
chris
Guest
Just one or two corrections. Jan Serfontein and Morne Steyn have no connection to Western Province. Both finished school in Bloemfontein and signing for the Bulls straight out of school. Handre Pollard was schooled here and Western Province did try and sign him, but the Bulls threw silly money after him. JJ Engelbrecht moved to get out of the shadow of Bryan Habana (he was, and I would argue still is, wing at that stage). Hougaard and Le Roux were two glaring errors where Western Provinced backed the wrong player. In the case of Hougaard it was Duvenage. With Le Roux they decided to sign Joe Pietersen from france when Le Roux was carving up in the Currie Cup first division for Boland. Players moving around the country is a fact of life in the professional game and it is not like Western Province hasn't benefited from it. Vermeulen is from Mpumalanga (via the the Cheetahs), Kolisi and Ntubeni (via Joburg) are both from the eastern cape and Taute was already a Springbok when they signed him the Lions. All in all it has been an incredibly difficult season. The Stormers started with a bye in the first week, played two games and then went on a particularly tough four week tour (Chiefs, Crusaders, Brumbies and Reds), but the thing that killed them was their injury count. At one stage of the season they had something like twenty players injured of which something like 7 were locks. They also missed out on playing against the weakest teams in the Australian and New Zealand conferences (Rebels and Blues). In the final wash up they beat, of the teams still in contention, the Hurricanes, Force, Highlander and Sharks. If they win this weekend they will finish with a 50% record and more wins than the Chiefs and Highlanders. All in all the season was disappointing, but not the train smash it is being made out to be.
Harry Jones
Guest
Stormers did rebound quite nicely from a terrible start. So, I wouldn't be too pessimistic. 2015. Sharks will come to Newlands to play bully-ball. I think we'll have just enough to repel them.
felix
Guest
Predictions on the Sharks vs Stormers game this week?? I reckon the Sharks performance will greatly determine how effectively they will play in the playoffs,no second stringer players will start this week,Jake learnt he's lesson "it is better to start good and end mediocre :-D than vise versa". Bismark,Beast,Alberts and co are sure starters unlike the gamble he took vs Cheetahs. As far as the Stormers are concerned in general 1 word FUSTRATING!,N.Mallet ASAP or send our coaches and management to a coaching school somewhere. Stormers are similar to the Canes and Tahs,Tahs have a chance to break the choke :-D
Harry Jones
Expert
Sadly, Craig Joubert never plays for the Stormers. Although I did like the lecture he gave Victor last weekend. Haha! "Don't attack me." Loved that.
Vic
Guest
Stompie?? Thought he'd uh 'disappeared' a few years ago? Another missing Joubert - damn.
EVS
Roar Rookie
craig joubert haha (just kidding)
Harry Jones
Guest
Good point about Kolbe; but Paulse was short too. You're right, though...Aplon-Kolbe is too short a combo. And Taute is not great under the high ball.
Harry Jones
Guest
True. We let a lot of young stars go. But really, we were hit with injuries very hard, too. Still, the main issue is, as BB says, Coetzee-Fleckie are out of ideas. Mallet would be perfect.
Harry Jones
Guest
Let Mr Charrington answer from his eyrie in Korea. He probably has a quota of Jouberts. Andre, Craig, Marius, Slappies, and Stompie.
Bakkies
Guest
Well there was Marius but he was a centre.
Harry Jones
Guest
Mr Charrington. Which Joubert are you speaking of?
Owen McCaffrey
Roar Guru