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Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has highlighted problem areas the Stormers need to sort out.
The Capetonians are unbeaten in this year’s Super Rugby competition, having beaten the Bulls (37-24) and the Jaguares (32-25) at home.
This past weekend’s clash against the Jaguares saw the Cape side entertain with their enterprising approach, but they struggled to put the plucky Argentines away, even when the Jaguares were reduced to 13 men at one stage.
“From a Stormers point of view there were a lot of defensive weaknesses,” Mallett said in the SuperSport studio after the game.
“There was a lot of physicality in that Jaguares side and the Stormers didn’t tackle them backwards, which allowed the visitors to get front-foot ball, especially later on in the game. The Stormers got both first half tries with little kicks, one well-constructed but the other one fortunate because it came off the heel of Jano Vermaak. They have to learn to be better with offensive kicking. Offensive kicking is the secret against really strong defence.”
The Stormers’ skills also let them down, Mallett said.
“The Stormers have a good off-loading game, but 24 handling errors are just too many for a team wanting to get into the Super Rugby playoffs and to compete with New Zealand teams.”
