Gavin Rich

Cape Town - Stormers coach Allister Coetzee admits he was incredibly down over the weekend - but once he went through the video of his team’s defeat to the Brumbies at Newlands, he felt a lot better.

The Stormers lost the game 19-17 to a late intercept try which punished a poor decision to run the ball out of their own territory with two minutes to go when the scores were deadlocked at 12-all. Coetzee admits his men butchered the game and that it was yet another harsh lesson that needs to be absorbed, but amidst the ashes of defeat he sees some hope.

“It’s tough being a Super 14 coach when you lose, but then sometimes you watch the video and you see things that make you realise that everything is not far from being in place and it helps you prepare for the next match,” said Coetzee.

“I watched the video and it showed me we are not far from where we want to be. I didn’t think we played well against the Brumbies, and we played way too much rugby in the wrong parts of the field and there was a bit too much over-exuberance on attack, but with a bit of luck we could have scored seven tries.”

It has been a perennial lament so far this season from the Stormers, but Coetzee was happy to go there again -- he wants his players to make better decisions and be more patient on attack.

“It is one of those things that will suddenly come right. We will get a game where we round off our opportunities, and from that will come the confidence and assurance that will help us start to do it as a habit,” said the Stormers coach.

“The encouraging thing about the Brumbies game is that we did create tries. I would be discouraged if we had not created any opportunities, but we created several. The Brumbies scored one try off an intercept but otherwise I did not see too many opportunities for them.

“We (the management) have spoken to the players and emphasised what we want and I think they have understood the message we have put across. It’s all about having clarity about what options to take in different parts of the field. Some of the decisions we made against the Brumbies were the right ones, but they just weren’t made in the right place and at the right time.

“We are also still a little impatient on attack, and in that sense not quite where we want to be or need to be.”

Coetzee was delighted to welcome back Schalk Burger and Wicus Blaauw to training on Monday, and lock Adriaan Fondse, out since last August after undergoing an operation, also made a welcome return to onfield training.

“We would like to see Fondsie maybe get a Vodacom Cup game or two. I would say he would be ready to play for us in the game before we go on tour (the Cheetahs). Schalk and Wicus are both ready to play this week, and we are pleased to have them back in the mix.”

Blaauw’s return will help the Stormers blunt what Coetzee sees as a potential threat from the Highlanders.

“They had an interesting tussle with the Cheetahs in the scrums at the weekend, and we know that the Cheetahs are very useful scrummagers. So they may look to attack us there,” said Coetzee.