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Cape Town - Despite going down 29-22 in a tense match against the Lions in Johannesburg, there were some positives for the Stormers to take from their performance.
Head coach Robbie Fleck said that while disappointed to miss out in a game that was in the balance right until the final stages, there were plenty of encouraging signs from his team in an intense match.
“There was a lot of intensity and the game was played at a high tempo. There were moments for both sides to really take control of the game and then the other side fought back. So it was a real clash.
“It was a great game, both sides brought it in terms of defence and attack, the collisions at the breakdown were immense.
“It is a good sign for where South African rugby is going. It was a typical derby match but I thought there was intent to play some good rugby and both sides really tried to do that,” he said.
Fleck was impressed with the way the Stormers defence held up under pressure from the home side, but would like to see them take better advantage of their opportunities going forward.
“We were right with our plans, and I thought we did really well to stem the tide at stages when they really came at us.
“I thought that there were moments where we defended really well, and we created turnover ball, we just didn’t capitalise on those opportunities as much as we would have liked,” he said.
The Stormers coach gave credit to the opposition for the way they closed out the game, and said that the quality of rugby on show was proof that South African rugby is getting stronger.
“Credit to the Lions, they were the better side on the day and ultimately they deserved that win.
“I think the South African sides are improving and if we can play like this week-in week-out, whether it is South African opposition or foreign opposition, then we are heading in the right direction,” he added.
