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Stephen Nell
Cape Town - Allister Coetzee was hardly in a jubilant mood after his Stormers team bashed down the back door to beat the Sharks 17-16 in Saturday’s final match of this year’s Neo Africa Tri-series at Newlands.
“Generally I was very disappointed with the performance. I am particularly unhappy with our discipline. It was shocking,” said Coetzee.
The Stormers struggled at the breakdowns and three of them - De Kock Steenkamp (repeated infringements), Paul Bosch (late tackle) and Bryan Habana (high tackle) - were sin-binned.
There were some discussions about the strict application of the laws, but ultimately Coetzee was clear about where the fault lay.
“Our discipline was shocking and that is never something we will be proud of. We spoke about the number of penalties last week. We’ll have a hard look at the performances of individuals and we will make sure that we get it right. You can’t concede so many penalties in Super Rugby,” said Coetzee.
“The referees have to make split-second decisions and it does not help to throw your hands in the air or shake your head. You just have to adapt. We showed character. The guys were focused in the second half and it paid off.”
However, Coetzee wants his team to adapt quicker in Super Rugby so that they do not get blown off the park by referees.
“I don’t know whether it has been prescribed to referees that they need to take out the yellow card if teams don’t adapt. We have to find out. They will always lay down the law at the beginning of the competition and there is a message in that for all of us,” he said.
“The referee has to act if your behaviour does not change. We did not roll away at the breakdown. If you don’t get that right after you have been warned, the referee probably has to take out the yellow card.”
The Stormers clinched the match with converted tries inside the last 10 minutes - by Elgar Watts and Rynhardt Elstadt. The shift in momentum in the game only came after the changes had been rung on both sides and that is why Coetzee is keeping a healthy perspective.
Even so, the Stormers can take numerous positives from the pre-season friendly.
“We definitely benefited from the intensity and physicality. We could also be tested under pressure in terms of the application of the laws.”
The Stormers’ improved in the set phases and captain Andries Bekker put his hand up for a missed lineout.
“We only lost one lineout ball and it was through a stupid call I made. The scrums were also much better,” he said.
Cape Town - Allister Coetzee was hardly in a jubilant mood after his Stormers team bashed down the back door to beat the Sharks 17-16 in Saturday’s final match of this year’s Neo Africa Tri-series at Newlands.
“Generally I was very disappointed with the performance. I am particularly unhappy with our discipline. It was shocking,” said Coetzee.
The Stormers struggled at the breakdowns and three of them - De Kock Steenkamp (repeated infringements), Paul Bosch (late tackle) and Bryan Habana (high tackle) - were sin-binned.
There were some discussions about the strict application of the laws, but ultimately Coetzee was clear about where the fault lay.
“Our discipline was shocking and that is never something we will be proud of. We spoke about the number of penalties last week. We’ll have a hard look at the performances of individuals and we will make sure that we get it right. You can’t concede so many penalties in Super Rugby,” said Coetzee.
“The referees have to make split-second decisions and it does not help to throw your hands in the air or shake your head. You just have to adapt. We showed character. The guys were focused in the second half and it paid off.”
However, Coetzee wants his team to adapt quicker in Super Rugby so that they do not get blown off the park by referees.
“I don’t know whether it has been prescribed to referees that they need to take out the yellow card if teams don’t adapt. We have to find out. They will always lay down the law at the beginning of the competition and there is a message in that for all of us,” he said.
“The referee has to act if your behaviour does not change. We did not roll away at the breakdown. If you don’t get that right after you have been warned, the referee probably has to take out the yellow card.”
The Stormers clinched the match with converted tries inside the last 10 minutes - by Elgar Watts and Rynhardt Elstadt. The shift in momentum in the game only came after the changes had been rung on both sides and that is why Coetzee is keeping a healthy perspective.
Even so, the Stormers can take numerous positives from the pre-season friendly.
“We definitely benefited from the intensity and physicality. We could also be tested under pressure in terms of the application of the laws.”
The Stormers’ improved in the set phases and captain Andries Bekker put his hand up for a missed lineout.
“We only lost one lineout ball and it was through a stupid call I made. The scrums were also much better,” he said.
