Feeney urges Stormers to step up

Cape Town - Stormers skills coach Paul Feeney has called for a more clinical approach ahead of Saturday's Super Rugby clash with the Crusaders.

Feeney has bemoaned his side's inability to finish off their chances in the 29-16 defeat to the Lions at Newlands on Saturday. This, despite being camped on the Lions' try-line for a good 15 minutes.

"In that 12 minutes we spent in their 22 after half-time‚ we had a couple of lineouts and we had three scrums not far from their line," Feeney told stuff.co.nz.

"We were very close to getting over on three occasions. Whether it was the option taking by the backs out wide‚ our picking and going or not staying patient enough‚ we just could not quite finish them off.

"It is the team's attack in general which we need to sharpen up a bit. We were not quite as good as were the week before against the Chiefs."

The Kiwi coach knows all too well the threat the Crusaders possess and is well aware that the Cape Town side cannot afford to make the same mistakes they made against the Lions. He has specifically referred to set-pieces, where Bongi Mbonambi was guilty of not finding his jumpers on one too many occasions.

"Scrums on our ball were nice and solid‚ but we had a couple of lapses in concentration on their ball. At lineout time we lost a couple of balls as well," said the former Blues coach.

He added that the Crusaders' abrasive forward pack, replete with All Blacks, was something the Stormers definitely needed to be wary of.

"Some of their starting forwards also start for the All Blacks‚" said Feeney.

"There is [Joe] Moody‚ [Owen] Franks‚ [Sam] Whitelock and [Kieran] Read. Then you got [Wyatt] Crockett‚ [Luke] Romano‚ [Scott] Barrett and [Matt] Todd - they can put out an All Black forward pack easily‚ so that is what makes them dangerous.

"They are very good at the set-piece‚ they are very physical and they are very well-organised.

"In the backs [flyhalf] Richie Mo'unga has come of age and he's got about three Super Rugby campaigns under his belt.

"Ryan Crotty in the midfield is rock solid so they have a good group of players across the park. But it all starts with their pack.

"It is the best forward pack going around in Super Rugby‚ simple as that and that is what they lay their platform on."