Stormers know what’s coming in Cardiff: ‘They like running the ball’
· Citizen
The Stormers are preparing for a similar challenge to what they got in their 38-all draw with Ulster in Belfast, when they take on Cardiff at Arms Park in Wales in their final United Rugby Championship (URC) pool match on Saturday.
It is a massively important game for both teams, with the Stormers targeting a win to secure top spot on the URC log, while Cardiff know they need a positive result to secure their place in the competition playoffs.
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Stormers defence coach Norman Laker said on Monday that there would be a lot of familiarity when facing Cardiff, but that the team needed to put in a solid performance if they wanted to get the positive result they are after.
“They are coached by a South African, a Free Stater who had 140 caps for Benetton, Corniel van Zyl. He is a great guy and we know him because we have coached against him a few times,” said Laker.
“They are a ball in hand team, very similar to Ulster. It is on a 4G pitch again and they have a few South Africans playing for them, like Johan Mulder who used to play for the Lions.
“They are a well coached team with a good set piece, although their lineout sometimes struggles but I think they will sort that out. They like running the ball, so this weekend the team must be spot on and we can’t make the same mistakes we made against Ulster.”
Laker was particularly unimpressed with the Stormers’ defensive effort in their draw with Ulster, and admitted that was a big part of the game they needed to improve on, but said a share of the spoils was a fair result in the end.
Leaky defence
“I am all about tries for and tries against, and our tries against was a bit too much, so for me there weren’t many positives. But we were good with ball in hand, especially in that last sequence of play when we earned the draw,” explained Laker.
“So it was quite pleasing to see the character of the guys to keep fighting until the end. It (Belfast) is not an easy place to play, we have never won there before and it is a 4G pitch that is not easy to play on.
“But no excuses, we should have been better, especially on defence. So (I am) happy with the draw, because it could have been a loss and could have been a win.”
Despite the disappointment of them missing out on a first ever URC win in Belfast, Laker said that the team had learnt plenty of lessons, which would stand them in good stead as they progressed into the playoffs.
“The review was quite brutal. I think we have learnt a few lessons. At this stage of the competition, which is the last (pool) round, we are constantly learning and trying to improve ourselves. But against Ulster we weren’t at our best,” said Laker.
“I think we let ourselves down, we did stuff that we don’t normally do, we didn’t do things we had trained, so I think it was a good learning curve going into the playoffs. We have to make sure we do what got us here and what we need to do as a group to stay here.”