The Stormers will be out for blood when they take on the Waratahs at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday night.
Last week’s Stormers vs Hurricanes game resulted in a 25-20 loss to the Stormers in Wellington, but was not without controversy, with question marks over each of the Hurricanes’ three first-half tries.
No matter what the view with respect to the second and third tries, the Stormers can justifiably feel aggrieved about the Hurricanes first five-pointer.
Down 6-3 after 24 minutes, and near the Hurricanes’ try-line, a Conrad Smith knock down of the Stormers ball saw a turnover and counter-attack by the Hurricanes, ultimately resulting in a try. The knockdown was completely ignored by both the referee and the linesman, who were both in positions to easily see it.
To their credit, the Stormers’ second-half performance was magnificent. Rarely have I seen a side run onto the ball like the Stormers did in those 40 minutes.
One of the areas of the game of rugby that is in need of significant improvement, from Test level down, is the running of the ball by the forwards, and in particular, the tight forwards. How often do you see players receive the ball from a standing position, rather than running onto the ball? This usually occurs with tight forwards close to the ruck, who receive the ball from a stationary position, truck it up a metre or two, before ingloriously falling in a heap after being tackled by an opponent who only had to move two to three metres forward to capture the ball carrier before the gain line.
While rugby league is not to everyone’s taste, this is an area in which they excel. One can argue with some justification that rugby league forwards do not have to expend energy in scrums, lineouts, rucks and mauls, and thus have more gas in the tank for hit ups. Nonetheless, the flow of the game is different and significant energy is expended in rugby league repeatedly retreating 10 metres defensively and then advancing to make the tackle.
Just as the rugby league forward can measure his timing from the play the ball and dummy half, the ruck in rugby union is now so well constructed that runners should easily be able to synchronise their timing with the halfback so as to hit the ball at speed with a view to making maximum yardage.
The time has come for the rugby union forward to be a true ball runner, and the Stormers showed last week they know how to run onto the ball off the ruck effectively and efficiently.
They have a very real chance of beating the Waratahs if they can gain parity in possession, and increase their work rate to that which they displayed in the second half of their game against the Hurricanes. They will have taken great heart from their second half running performance against the Hurricanes, but know that if they give the Tahs too much ball they are in serious danger of being worn down defensively.
NSW have an extremely well-balanced team, with strength and power in their forwards and size and guile throughout their backline, which can prove a handful for the best of defenders.
The Stormers’ best chance is to keep the ball in hand, have their forward runners stand wide of the ruck and make the yardage from offloads off their first receiver. This will drag the NSW forwards across the park and make them work harder defensively.
Expect NSW to employ a mixed running and tactical kicking game, with the aim of pinning the Stormers down deep in their territory so they are either forced to run the ball or kick back under pressure.
Defensively, the Stormers will have to be careful of the high ball, given the disparity in height and weight between the two backlines, and I expect to see Michael Cheika’s men exploit this.
The Stormers can also expect some kicks in behind their front-line defence.
This game should be a bruising encounter, and is not to be missed.
Jerry
Guest
He says "There's a couple of penalties that are coming, probably not the best call from me up that far end from me. But, they're coming at the breakdown as I was saying to you before...." The 'apology' doesn't seem to have anything to do with the 'knock on'. Which wasn't even a knock on, quite possibly.
Harry Jones
Expert
The referree clearly apologised for missing Conrad's knock on, at the Cane goal line. So, it was a big turnaround, and the ref acknowledged it was definitely his error.
Reality
Guest
Absolutely? No chance?
ClarkeG
Roar Guru
You wrote "Down 6-3 after 24 minutes, and near the Hurricanes’ try-line, a Conrad Smith knock down of the Stormers ball saw a turnover and counter-attack by the Hurricanes, ultimately resulting in a try. The knockdown was completely ignored by both the referee and the linesman, who were both in positions to easily see it." Firstly, when you say "knock down" what you really mean is 'knock on'. There is no such infringement as ‘knock down'. If a ball is knocked down that would mean it was not knocked forward and thus could not be a 'knock on'. I 'm sure you mean 'knock on' but 'knock down' is a term which is often misused, particularly by commentators. In regard to the incident to which you refer, what I saw was the ball was almost immediately kicked long down field by the Hurricanes; the Stormers run it back to about half way and were then penalised. The Hurricanes kicked for touch, won the lineout and scored from that play. I would hardly call that a "counter attack ultimately resulting in a try". It's not as if the Hurricanes after the turnover, raced away and scored in the same play. There has been much discussion about Smith’s touch on the ball during the past week. You allege that the ‘knock on’ was completely ignored by the referee and his assistant. Has it crossed your mind at all that as both were in good positions to easily see it ,as you said, that they in fact did see it and judged that the ball did not go forward from Smith’s hand. I have watched this incident several times and honestly I can not be sure that the ball has gone forward. It may have gone forward but it’s very hard to judge from the TV coverage. My guess would be that the ball either went straight down or slightly backward. If the referees can not be sure that it went forward then they cannot call it a knock on.
splinter
Guest
The Stormers might win or they might lose who cares dark days for SA rugby like all franchises all roads lead to the Free State and the next players to be bought from the cheetahs.Watch Potgieter.
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
The Stormers are absolutely no chance of beating the Tahs tonight. They're a reasonable chance of keeping the Tahs to three tries or less, though, so as a Brumbies supporter, I'll have my fingers crossed for that!
Mike
Guest
That's cruel. :) In fairness, .I think he was saying play like leaguies rather than recruit them. But anyway I don't think the analogy works any more. The codes are drifting further apart.
John
Guest
Israel Folau Michael Essa???
Squirrel
Roar Rookie
Feel an upset here. Where's the love for the reds gone Chris
Nick Turnbull
Roar Guru
I would just like to see some really precise, efficient and skill full set piece play from the Tah's. The points will come if they execute that aspect of the game I think.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Really hope the Tahs worked on their ball handling skills this week, don't want to see the same errors than vs blues. The pitch and ball will be wet though so not sure both teams will play as openly as they initially wanted. I feel that Dennis and Skelton in particular have more physical impact in the last few weeks so it will be interesting to see how they respond against Burger and co. With what happened last night in NZ, a win is crucial if we want to top the aussie conf.
Blinky Bill of Bellingen NSW
Guest
I'm quite looking forward to seeing a real contrast in playing styles. The Stormers need to get their hands on the pill and survive the collisions over a bruising 80 minutes. Tahs need to be accurate and disciplined. Hopefully a good game in front of a good size crowd making plenty of noise. GO THE TAHS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mango Jack
Guest
He always reminds me of that villain in Die Hard 1. Crazy long white hair and mad look in his eyes. Scary.
Flynn
Guest
Not playing Thor is of course a loss but watching them last week, obviously the second half performance rather than their first, bodes well for them. I was staggered to see the bookies only giving them $4 odds which is very tempting for a lazy few bills. Further the Blues came close to being knocked off by the Blues recently and I certainly don't think the Tahs are an all conquering unit.
Akari
Roar Rookie
Thanks about Rhodes, Harry. I hope the Stormers play well but the Tahs to win at home.
Akari
Roar Rookie
The only problem, IMO, is that rugby forwards expend a lot of energy in scrums and mauls and then covering the whole field unlike in league. Unlike league, rugby forwards rarely have time for a breather and they only do so while waiting for the scrum and line-outs to start and during 'injury' breaks. While it will be great to see forwards run on to the ball, I fear that they (especially the tight 5) will be just too tired to do so and we will see a lot of dropsies during games and we will have a lot more time watching scrums and re-sets instead of running rugby. This is not to say it will not work as the Stormers showed in the last 40 minutes of their game last week. The question, what were they doing in the 1st 40 minutes?
Michael Essa
Roar Guru
Chris, Leaguies huh... how is Sam Burgess doing at Bath??? has he made their starting line up yet?
Ron Burgundy
Guest
it helps that league forwards have the luxury of a 10metre gap... ridiculous viewpoint!
Lostintokyo
Guest
Agree totally with your comments regarding forwards not running onto the ball. And as you say, it is all about not taking the ball deep and risking not getting over the advantage line, but taking the ball flat with momentum. Run from deep but receive the ball flat. It amazes me that coaches don't address this. This and banning the chip kick.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Cheers for the heads up HJ, I'll keep an eye on him. Have to admit I just assumed Kolisi would be starting.