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Stormers tackle count too high

Cape Town - Everyone is raving about the Stormers’ defensive effort against the Waratahs last Saturday, but coach Allister Coetzee knows that something will have to change if his team are to still be competitive in the business end of the Vodacom Super 14.

On the positive side, Coetzee believes that the big defence towards the end of the game disproved the theory that the second half fade against the Lions the previous week was an indication that his team was unfit.

“A lot of people were suggesting that maybe there was a problem with our fitness after the Lions game, but that is not something that crossed my mind. I have no doubt that we are properly conditioned and the way we kept up the intensity for 80 minutes against the Waratahs showed that to be the case,” said Coetzee.

However, on the downside, Coetzee also knows that being forced to tackle takes a lot out of players, and is far more taxing from a fatigue point of view than attacking. Relying too much on defence for the remainder of the competition would therefore start to catch up with his team later on, and Coetzee knows it.

“I was very pleased with our defence against the Waratahs, I think we are known to be one of the better defensive teams in the competition,” said Coetzee.

“We really had the Waratahs bottled up, we prevented them from playing. But at the same time I would also prefer it if we had to do less defending. Ideally I would like us to halve our tackle count. Attacking more with the ball would mean that we don’t get so tired, and it won’t have such a debilitating effect on the players.”

Coetzee repeated his assertion that he would like to see the Stormers put the same passion and commitment into their attacking game that they do into defence. And he reckoned it started to come right against the Waratahs. “We showed a lot of patience with ball in hand, and it paid off for us, such as when we scored our first try. The guys are now understanding that if you apply pressure in the opposition half and force them to scramble by retaining patience and composure, then the penalties will come, like they did in the last 10 minutes of the first half on Saturday.”

Coetzee said he was looking forward to the Brumbies challenge on Friday night, with the Canberra based team posing a different set of challenges to the Waratahs. “They have top players such as George Smith and Rocky Elsom, they have played in a couple of semi-finals and even a few finals down the years, they have consistently been one of the top teams in the Super 14.

“Where the Waratahs are renowned for their physicality, the Brumbies have a game tailored to the new law changes at the breakdown. They like continuity, it is almost as if the laws were written for them. So we are going to have to be even better than against the Waratahs if we want to win.”
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