RUGBY NEWS - The big wake-up call that the DHL Stormers received on their 2017 Vodacom Super Rugby tour of New Zealand was the impact that the line speed of the opposing defensive systems had on their game and 12 months later it is clear that it was a wake-up call that has been heeded.
Much of what the Stormers have been working on in the time since they returned from last year’s tour has been related to line speed – both in terms of finding ways to deal with it as an attacking team and in terms of being able to apply it to your own defensive game to put opposition teams under pressure.
“That is really what it is all about, being able to put the opposition under pressure and pressurising them into being off their game and not being able to execute what they want to execute,” says Stormers lock Chris van Zyl, who last year captained Western Province to Currie Cup success.
Coach Robbie Fleck knows his team hasn’t got it completely right yet and need to work on consistency and Paul Treu, who last year was the defence coach but is now looking after structured attack and defence, agrees it is still a work in progress but that the performance against the Blues was further confirmation that the team are getting to where they need to be.
“Last year we had a big problem when we encountered the line speed of the Kiwi teams and it really impacted on our attacking game,” said Fleck after the 37-20 win over the Blues at Newlands.
