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Gerber: Where's the creativity?

Cape Town - Former Springbok centre Danie Gerber wants the Stormers and Kings backlines to up the ante on attack.

The two teams square off at Newlands on Saturday, in what will be a clash between the two bottom teams in the South African conference.

And Gerber, speaking to Die Burger, has called on the two sets of backlines to be more creative.

"It's not as though the Kings' backline cannot be dangerous. They did show in a few games that they can score tries. It's almost like they lose a bit of confidence at times - and then they get very predictable.

"This past weekend against the Cheetahs (a 22-34 loss) they made it very easy to defend against them."

Gerber singled out inside centre Andries Strauss from last week's game. "He took the ball under his arm and tried to force his way through. It won't always work. Sometimes you have to try and beat the defence by side-stepping.

"My advice to the Kings' backline would be to attack the space and to be just a bit more creative."

Gerber, who represented Eastern Province and Western Province in his playing days, feels the Stormers' backline is guilty of the same errors.

"Everyone says the Stormers have the best defence, but what does that help if they're almost bottom of the log?

"They're also very predictable on attack. It's only out of broken play that a guy like Gio Aplon is dangerous. The Kings will make a big mistake if they employ aimless kicks to the midfield. It's then when guys like Aplon and Bryan Habana can run you off your feet."

However, despite Gerber's plea for more attractive back play, he may have to wait a week longer, as a massive cold front is set to hit Cape Town on the weekend, with 100% chance of heavy rain predicted for Saturday.

The clash at Newlands kicks off at 17:05.

Teams:

Stormers:

15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Deon Fourie, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff.

Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Gerbrandt Grobler, 19 Don Armand, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 Gary van Aswegen, 22 Gerhard van den Heever.

Kings:

TBA
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