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Cape Town - Stormers coach Allister Coetzee has taken a lot of positives out of their clash against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth over the weekend.
The Stormers overcame a tough first period (they only led 12-10 at half-time) to eventually finish 38-13 victors.
“One of the big plusses was the returns of Duane [Vermeulen] and Andries [Bekker] who both came through their 30 minutes of rugby as planned," Coetzee told the Stormers' website.
"We handled the breakdown well. The Kings pushed us, but we were accurate. The scrums improved and the lineout went well so all in all it was great preparation for the (Super Rugby) competition.
“The wind in the stadium was swirling and made conditions very difficult to play in. We made a few mistakes and missed opportunities in the first half, but we were much improved in the second and that was shown by the four second half tries we scored.”
Coetzee was also impressed with Springbok Bryan Habana's effort at centre, his first match in the midfield since playing there for the Boks in 2006.
“Bryan played really well. He made one defensive error, but for 80 minutes he was excellent on attack. He was decisive on attack and he cut through the defence on numerous times. He also put through Joe Pietersen to score his try so we are very happy with his performance.”
Unfortunately one negative from the game was the injury of Deon Fourie. The hooker broke his hand and is expected to be out for between 4 and 6 weeks.
The Stormers start their Super Rugby campaign against the Hurricanes at Newlands on February 25.
The Stormers overcame a tough first period (they only led 12-10 at half-time) to eventually finish 38-13 victors.
“One of the big plusses was the returns of Duane [Vermeulen] and Andries [Bekker] who both came through their 30 minutes of rugby as planned," Coetzee told the Stormers' website.
"We handled the breakdown well. The Kings pushed us, but we were accurate. The scrums improved and the lineout went well so all in all it was great preparation for the (Super Rugby) competition.
“The wind in the stadium was swirling and made conditions very difficult to play in. We made a few mistakes and missed opportunities in the first half, but we were much improved in the second and that was shown by the four second half tries we scored.”
Coetzee was also impressed with Springbok Bryan Habana's effort at centre, his first match in the midfield since playing there for the Boks in 2006.
“Bryan played really well. He made one defensive error, but for 80 minutes he was excellent on attack. He was decisive on attack and he cut through the defence on numerous times. He also put through Joe Pietersen to score his try so we are very happy with his performance.”
Unfortunately one negative from the game was the injury of Deon Fourie. The hooker broke his hand and is expected to be out for between 4 and 6 weeks.
The Stormers start their Super Rugby campaign against the Hurricanes at Newlands on February 25.
