Theymay have to do it the hard way like the Sharks almost did last year, but the DHL
Stormers are not writing off their chances of this year being the one where they
make good on their threat to win a Vodacom Super Rugby title.
According to the
supersport website,
a combination of bad luck and their own poor decision making robbed the Stormers
of what would have been a deserved victory had they got over the line against
the Blues in Albany at the start of the past weekend’s round of matches.
They dominated long periods of the game, both in terms of possession and the
physical hold they had over their opponents, but failed to make use of scoring
opportunities.
Two late tries brought them back into the game after being down 15-3, to the
extent that the Blues had to heave a massive sigh of relief when Elton Jantjies
missed a last gasp chance to snatch victory with a drop-goal, leaving the Cape
team short by just one solitary point.
The 18-17 loss was the Stormers’ fifth defeat in nine starts, and they
languish in 10th place with seven games to go.
This week is probably their last and very final chance if they want to
challenge the Bulls and Cheetahs for the South African conference title they won
for the last two seasons, and thus book an easier passage through the play-offs.
They are still not completely out of range of the Bulls and Cheetahs, who
lead them by six and nine points respectively – in other words neither of them
are more than two wins ahead and can still slip up.
However, both still have a bye to come, which means four automatic log
points, something the Blls will profit from this coming weekend, to take them to
41 points.
If the Stormers don’t beat the Waratahs in Sydney this week, it would mean
they are 11 or 12 points behind with six games to play, and that may just be too
many.
Stormers skipper Jean de Villiers though mentioned last week that it has been
a funny competition, and that some “funny results” may still be on the cards and
make the cut-off point for play-offs, which in the past has been around 60,
lower than in the past.
If the Stormers win most of their remaining games, not even all of them, they
could still be in with a chance, and if they win all of them they might even
still win the conference.
Coach Allister Coetzee has certainly not given up hope of doing that, telling
the Cape media after the Albany defeat that although disappointed, he thought
the Stormers still had “a big chance”.
“There’s still a lot of rugby to be played, and we are of the view that we
are still really not out of this. There is still a big chance for us and we are
still together, tight as a team, and we need to make sure that we get the result
in the next game.”
That last bit, winning the next game, might be the difficult part for the
Stormers. They play mostly home games after they get back from tour, and with
players coming back from injury and the uncertainty over which type of game to
play now behind them, they should fancy their chances of beating the Reds
(home), Kings (away), Cheetahs (home), Kings (home) and Bulls (home).
Although they lost at the weekend, they do still look like a team gaining
momentum and haven’t yet played to their capabilities.
But the Waratahs are a different kettle of fish in the sense that they also
look like they’re gaining momentum. They were perhaps unlucky to lose to the
Bulls if you consider they scored three tries in that match, but they really
found their range against the Southern Kings this past weekend.
Even accounting for the perception that this was a game that the Kings, who
have had to play above themselves every week, just never pitched, and will
always get smashed on such days, the all-round energy, purpose, power and
confidence of the Waratahs team marks them as an extremely difficult team to
stop now that they have a bit of momentum.
They beat the Chiefs the last time they played at home, so the Stormers know
they will be up against it. But there is the carrot of knowing that their
schedule becomes much easier after that, and victory will lay the table for a
possible winning run at home.
They are going to have to play at least some of those games without lock De
Kock Steenkamp, who left the field against the Blues with a sternum injury that
will see him miss four weeks of rugby.
However, Eben Etzebeth had an influence on the game when he came on in the
second half for his first Super Rugby appearance of the season.
The ability of flanks Don Armand and Rynhardt Elstadt to play lock if they
are needed has seen Coetzee grab the opportunity to call up Gerhard van den
Heever to boost his back three options for the last two matches on tour. The
Stormers play the Rebels in their last overseas match.
