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Allister: Tries not an issue

Stephen Nell

Cape Town - The best start ever by the Stormers in a Super Rugby season and accurate talent identification within Western Province has made 2011 a fruitful year to date for rugby in the Western Cape.

That is probably why Stormers coach Allister Coetzee is not breaking his head at the halfway mark about his team's inability to achieve bonus-point victories.

"We have won seven of our eight games and coped with injuries," said Coetzee.

"You don't have control over injuries and we will have Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Peter Grant, Rynhardt Elstadt and Tiaan Liebenberg available again soon."

The Stormers have also never before won seven of their first eight games in Vodacom Super Rugby.

Last year they slipped up the first time in the third round - against the Brumbies at Newlands - and then again in their seventh game, which was against the Western Force in Perth.

Prior to last year, when they reached the final, their best performance in a season had been in 1999 and then they lost two of their first four games before securing a home semi-final.

As was the case last year, the Stormers are again the team that has conceded the fewest tries, but only the Western Force have scored less than them.

There are therefore renewed questions about the Cape side's attacking play. On Saturday, they also made considerably more tackles than the Lions - 190 against 124 - and could not score a valuable fourth try.

"Considering the crisis we had at flyhalf, I'm very satisfied. We created chances, but the finishing was not good. I would rather have one bonus point and 33 log points than seven bonus points and 11 log points. It's important to win your games and the conference. We are well-placed," said Coetzee.

Should the Stormers win the South African conference but finish with fewer points on the overall log than the winners of the New Zealand and Australian conferences, they will have to play a quarter-final on the weekend of 24 and 25 June.

Coetzee is happy that a lot of water still has to flow under the bridge before the play-offs. The Stormers still play the Crusaders at Newlands on 7 May, while the Reds and Crusaders (respective leaders in the Australian and New Zealand conferences, and both above the Stormers on the overall log) will also cross swords in Brisbane on 29 May.

By beating the Lions, the Stormers have also managed to avoid a slump similar to that of the Sharks after their first defeat. The Durban side lost three games on the trot before getting back on track by beating the Lions.

"We're back on the winning track and that will generate confidence," said Coetzee.

"I also know the abilities of a player like Gio Aplon. There were wrong options taken on attack at the weekend and it's just a question of keeping a cool head in those situations."

Victories, of course, generate confidence and Lions coach John Mitchell on Saturday night also made the point that defence and kicking will play a crucial role as the tournament heads into the play-offs.

The Stormers have only conceded six tries in eight games and have a goalkicking success ratio in excess of 80%.

A major positive of the campaign is the breakthrough the young players have made.

Elstadt (lock), Danie Poolman (wing), Gary van Aswegen (flyhalf), Johann Sadie (centre/wing), Siyabonga Ntubeni (hooker) and Frans Malherbe (tighthead prop) have all featured this year.

All of them are products of the WP Rugby Institute in Stellenbosch and their talents have been developed to a point where they could make meaningful contributions at Super Rugby level.

That is particularly encouraging as one of the reasons for the trophy drought at senior level in WP was probably poor talent identification.

"The management team and Rassie Erasmus (director of coaching) also deserve a lot of credit. We certainly made the correct calls in making Gary the second-choice flyhalf and deciding that Rynhardt is a better suited to No 4 lock than flank," said Coetzee.

"There is also a good work ethic among the young players and they consider it a big honour to train with the senior guys."

Province's Vodacom Cup team is also unbeaten and through to the quarterfinals under the astute mentorship of John Dobson.
There are also more talented players coming through the ranks there, while the Stormers brains trust also used the WP team well to keep their reserves sharp.

Wicus Blaauw, for example, was sent to play Vodacom Cup to improve his form, while Anton van Zyl and Conrad Jantjes also regained their fitness there when they returned from injury.

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