Stormers won’t focus on Willie By Ashfak Mohamed Cape Town – Willie le Roux is a playmaker with a magic wand for the Cheetahs and Springboks, but the way to stop him from bamboozling your defence is actually not to focus on him alone. That is the Stormers’ plan for Saturday’s Super Rugby clash against the Cheetahs at Newlands. The way Le Roux pops up in unusual places in the backline makes him difficult to mark, and whereas he started at fullback for the Boks in all three June Tests, he is back at right wing for the Cheetahs, where coach Naka Drotské has given him free reign. It is his ability to create space and set up teammates for tries that has seen him rise from a Currie Cup first division star for Boland into a dynamic Springbok. But Stormers coach Allister Coetzee pointed to his team’s excellent defence, which is again the best in the competition this year, as the weapon to keep Le Roux quiet at Newlands on Saturday. The Stormers have conceded only 17 five-pointers this year, four less than the Reds on 21. “Willie is a quality player obviously, and has a variation of attacking skills. But we are still one of the better defensive sides, and we still back our defensive systems,” Coetzee said after practice at Newlands yesterday. “We’ve got to make sure that we don’t watch Willie only, but focus and stay within our systems and don’t do unnecessary things.” That is easier said than done, though, as Le Roux’s penchant to use chip kicks over the top is a tactic that other teams have used with great success against the Stormers. But Le Roux didn’t make much of an impact in the first-round game in Bloemfontein in April, as the Cheetahs were starved of possession by the Cape side’s prowess at the lineouts, where they stole at least five balls against the throw. That good work was undone by a number of handling errors, while Sarel Pretorius’s charge-down of Nic Groom’s box kick was a gift try. That mistake has cost Groom his place in the team for the rest of the season, with Louis Schreuder starting at No 9 for the Stormers. Burton Francis kicked the Cheetahs to victory with a last-minute penalty as the Stormers tapped a few penalties instead of kicking at goal. Francis has since lost his place in the team and has already moved to French club Agen. Drotské opted for Riaan Smit at flyhalf yesterday instead of Elgar Watts, which is likely to result in the Cheetahs kicking more than usual. That could provide counter-attacking opportunities for Joe Pietersen, Gio Aplon and Bryan Habana, as well as fit-again centre Juan de Jongh. Aplon is capable of producing some “Le Roux magic” for the Stormers if allowed to do so, and Coetzee also wants to see an improvement in his team’s execution on attack. “Juan is well-rested, and physically, he is in a good space. He is also hungry to get on to the field again, so I am looking forward to the performance of Juan de Jongh. He’s playing against Robert (Ebersohn) and Johann Sadie, who are quite a good combination,” the coach said. “Both Juan and Damian (de Allende) are looking forward to the clash, as it will be tough because the Cheetahs centres have been in good form and are playing well. It’s a really good opportunity to show that ‘Look, I’m still in the Springbok mix, but I need to get into that 22 as well’. “We’ve had a long and hard look at where we have let ourselves down (this season), and I think when it gets to the attack, it is the simple basics where we let ourselves down – catching and passing. “It leads to us not getting continuity, and hopefully this weekend the things that we’ve focused on, I think it will definitely improve our attacking game.” As expected, Deon Fourie will start at flank and take over the Stormers captaincy from the injured Jean de Villiers, with De Jongh coming in at outside centre. The Stormers are missing a number of top players, and Coetzee feels that his team are the underdogs. “The Cheetahs are the favourites, as they are fifth on the log and playing good rugby. We are in 11th position. They are playing good rugby and have the confidence, and they have a number of Springboks who have been rewarded for their good Super Rugby form.” – Cape Times
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 09:53:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015