Luke: Rassie not to blame

The unexpected victory was only the fourth scored by the Stormers during a poor season, and although it ensured that at least the home part of the competition was ended on a rousing note, the Lions’ win over the Highlanders at the weekend saw the Stormers drop to 12th on the standings.

Erasmus, responsible for guiding the Stormers to the cusp of Super 14 semi-final qualification last year, has taken a lot of heat from the Cape media and supporters, but Saturday showed that the Stormers were on the right track – they just needed to get their execution right.

Many have accused the Stormers of kicking too much, but that is the way the game is going under the ELVs, and the Cape team’s statistics show that the teams that have beaten them this year have invariably kicked the ball more than they have. The constant refrain of the Stormers coaching staff this year has been that they need to get the balance between kicking and running right, and that greater attention needed to be paid to where on the field it was prudent to attack from.

Watson appears to back this up, and on Saturday night Watson said that the real culprits were the players, who had failed to execute the game-plan properly and had played “like idiots” at times.

“It is difficult for us as players because we sit there and he (Erasmus) takes the heat in the media and we know that it is actually us that are stuffing up,” said Watson.

“We did not use any tactics in this game that we did not employ in the other games. Our approach has been the same the whole season. Rassie hasn’t coached differently. He has been consistent in his attitude and approach to the players.

“Rassie has had the utmost integrity and honour towards the players, and it if I may say so, it is we who stuff up because at times we play like idiots.”

It is not rocket science to figure out where the Stormers got it right against the Force, and Watson agreed that this was just the match where the Stormers were at their best tactically all season.

“The Force have a very good kicking game, one of the best kicking games in the competition with Drew Mitchell and Matt Giteau. The way the boys kept just kep t us int he game. We just took the correct options at the correct times.”

Erasmus spoke last week of the suicide of running the ball from inside your own half under the ELVs, and this was one of those games where the Stormers tactics were spot-on, as indeed they were two weeks ago against the Highlanders. Field kicking also played a massive role in the big win over the Lions.

By ensuring that all the attacking rugby is played in the opposition half, the team conserves energy and becomes more effective on attack. Of course, against the Force there were also signs of greater innovation at the back too, and the selection of Joe Pietersen at fullback proved a revelation as he was a constant thorn to the Force defence and scored two great tries.

The last try though did look like it profited from blatant obstruction, something Force coach John Mitchell unsurprisingly pointed out afterwards. Maybe the Force were a bit unlucky, but then maybe it is also time the Stormers, who had three tries disallowed, profited from a bit of luck in a season where there has been little of that.