Stormers coach: Muir not at fault for lineout woes

Cape Town - Stormers assistant coach Paul Feeney says replacement hooker Dean Muir should not be blamed for their lineout woes at the end of last Saturday’s defeat to the Waratahs in Sydney.

The Stormers lost two lineouts late in the game in which Muir on both occasions threw the ball over the top.

The second lost lineout proved particularly costly as it allowed the home side to score a match-winning try after the hooter had sounded.

But Feeney has defended Muir and instead laid the blame on the lineout jumpers and their support players.

“Straight after the game, the forwards had a meeting and guys like Pieter-Steph du Toit were quite direct about what went wrong,” Feeney was quoted as saying by Netwerk24.

"Dean threw two good darts... perfect, exactly where they needed to be. But unfortunately we had put substitute players on by then and the lifters and the jumpers just never co-ordinated properly. There was a misunderstanding. The forwards were very disappointed.”

The Stormers are in Christchurch this week where they tackle the Crusaders on Saturday (08:35 SA time).