While the Lions received wild acclaim for their impressive home win over the Sharks‚ the Stormers’ record-breaking exploits in Australia went largely unheralded after they walloped the Rebels on Saturday.
And coach Robbie Fleck is happy to be under the radar.
The Stormers’ record 57-31 win in Melbourne‚ coupled with the Bulls’ defeat against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires later‚ has pushed them closer to clinching the Africa 1 conference and a play-off berth.
The Stormers are now nine points clear of the Bulls and only a desperate collapse of Protea batting proportions would see the Bulls overhaul the Stormers for top place in the conference with two regular season matches remaining.
Seven tries was a good return against a Rebels side that has not conceded as many tries or points in a match this season‚ despite playing against New Zealand’s top teams.
But most importantly for the Stormers‚ they have built some momentum as the season reaches the business end.
“We are not peaking yet but we need to build momentum on and off the field‚” Fleck said.
“Our goal on this tour‚ besides winning‚ was to build some momentum going into the latter stages of the tournament.
“Beating the Rebels was important and we now need to follow that through against the Force and the Kings. It has given us confidence and we are in a good place.”
Victory was built on a mammoth effort from the pack – particularly the scrum – and some clinical finishing.
The Stormers also showed their fitness and growing ability to play the full 80 minutes by scoring four tries in the final quarter.
“We are happy with the result because it was an interesting build-up as we travelled later than usual due to the Springbok players only joining us late‚” Fleck said.
“But our planning was very good and a lot of detail went into our planning and it paid off.
“We were under pressure early on in the match but we finished very strongly. Everything we had worked on and spoken about in the week leading up to the match came off‚ so we are happy.
“The Rebels caught our defence out a little early on‚ but as we adjusted to their width game‚ we shut them down and we were more comfortable and able to finish strongly.
“Tactically we were a lot smarter in the second half‚ which allowed the pack to dominate.”
The Stormers are in Perth where they face the Force on Saturday.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck happy to be under the radar
While the Lions received wild acclaim for their impressive home win over the Sharks‚ the Stormers’ record-breaking exploits in Australia went largely unheralded after they walloped the Rebels on Saturday.
And coach Robbie Fleck is happy to be under the radar.
The Stormers’ record 57-31 win in Melbourne‚ coupled with the Bulls’ defeat against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires later‚ has pushed them closer to clinching the Africa 1 conference and a play-off berth.
The Stormers are now nine points clear of the Bulls and only a desperate collapse of Protea batting proportions would see the Bulls overhaul the Stormers for top place in the conference with two regular season matches remaining.
Seven tries was a good return against a Rebels side that has not conceded as many tries or points in a match this season‚ despite playing against New Zealand’s top teams.
But most importantly for the Stormers‚ they have built some momentum as the season reaches the business end.
“We are not peaking yet but we need to build momentum on and off the field‚” Fleck said.
“Our goal on this tour‚ besides winning‚ was to build some momentum going into the latter stages of the tournament.
“Beating the Rebels was important and we now need to follow that through against the Force and the Kings. It has given us confidence and we are in a good place.”
Victory was built on a mammoth effort from the pack – particularly the scrum – and some clinical finishing.
The Stormers also showed their fitness and growing ability to play the full 80 minutes by scoring four tries in the final quarter.
“We are happy with the result because it was an interesting build-up as we travelled later than usual due to the Springbok players only joining us late‚” Fleck said.
“But our planning was very good and a lot of detail went into our planning and it paid off.
“We were under pressure early on in the match but we finished very strongly. Everything we had worked on and spoken about in the week leading up to the match came off‚ so we are happy.
“The Rebels caught our defence out a little early on‚ but as we adjusted to their width game‚ we shut them down and we were more comfortable and able to finish strongly.
“Tactically we were a lot smarter in the second half‚ which allowed the pack to dominate.”
The Stormers are in Perth where they face the Force on Saturday.
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