Litmus test awaits Stormers

The Blues showed against the Bulls just how dangerous they are, and the Stormers, if they were watching ahead of their trip from Perth to New Zealand, would have been left under no illusion about the task that awaits them. After David Hill’s late drop goal sunk them 16-15 at the EMI Stadium in the opener against the Force, the Stormers have been left with an unexpected mountain to climb.

On the positive side for the Stormers is the fact that unlike the Bulls, they do boast a fair record at Eden Park. Few who saw it will ever forget the freaky 50 point win they scored against the Blues there in 2004. Current captain Schalk Burger was part of that win, and he is sure to tell the rest of his men about it.

Then there was the game in 2000. The scoreline wasn’t quite as heftily imbalanced in favour of the Stormers, but it was an emphatic win all the same, with the Cape men taking control from the opening whistle and winning comfortably. Two years ago it was the Blues who won with a last minute penalty at the venue, so it is not as if the current players should have any uncomfortable memories of being overrun there.

But what the Stormers will know is that they have to get back the sharpness and efficiency that they boasted in the earlier matches in the Super 14 and which went absent without leave against the Force.

It did seem referee Stuart Dickinson’s rather confusing performance with the whistle put the Stormers off their game at times, but coach Allister Coetzee was the first to say afterwards that it was no excuse for the alarming error-rate and general sloppiness that sunk his team.

“The number of mistakes is a big concern for me and I know that the guy’s are not proud of what they produced in this match either,” said Coetzee.

“We failed to get any rythmn going because we just kept making mistakes that kept us in first gear and prevented us from mounting the sustained pressure on the Force that would have brought us points.

“I will have to go and look at the footage again, but we were repeatedly nailed by the referee at the breakdown. This allowed the Force to stay in touch with us through those penalties. It is something we going to have to look at before we move to our next game.”

Fortunately for the Stormers there were no major injuries to concern them, but it was clear in Perth that some of the players out injured are being sorely missed. None more so than fullback Joe Pietersen, who was missed for his composure and his ability to bring a lot more out of the sometimes sleeping giant Sireli Naqelevuki than we saw from the Fijian in Perth.