Schalk: Lots of work ahead

Cape Town - The mood in Cape Town is positive following the Stormers' second-half destruction of the Bulls at Loftus on Saturday, but Schalk Burger is one man who isn't getting carried away.

A cagey first half saw the Stormers go into the break with a 9-6 lead, but tries from Robert du Preez, Eben Etzebeth and Scarra Ntubeni secured what proved to be a comfortable win in the end for new coach Robbie Fleck and his men. 

It was a particularly dominant display from the Stormers at the scrums and line-outs, but Burger revealed afterwards that the match had been tight.

“We couldn’t have started on a better note, without getting ahead of ourselves. There’s still a long way to go,” said Burger, in his last season at Newlands.

“This is a good starting point for us, but we can still improve. 

“In the first half I think we battled for rhythm. We obviously want tempo and quick ball, but I think credit to the Bulls ... they put us under pressure.”

“What was pleasing was to see that we found a way to win. It may not have been ‘plan A’, we had to shift to ‘plan B’, but we found a way to win.”

Burger also applauded the Cape Town public, with more than 40 000 people having taken their seats at Newlands.

“In the rest of the world rugby crowds are dwindling, but certainly not here. It’s one of those games when you're in the bus, as you turn around and go past all the hotdog stands, you feel that there is a good energy.”

Fleck, in his first Super Rugby match in charge, was also trying to stay grounded.

“Obviously it’s nice to get off to a start like this but we’ve still got lots to do. We’re going to work incredibly hard to keep improving every week,” he said.

“We’re going up to Bloem and we haven’t won there in two years. It’s not going to be easy ... we all saw how they played last night ... they’re a dangerous side, especially up in Bloem.”

The Stormers take on the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.