How Currie Cup clash v Cheetahs helps Stormers prepare for All Blacks
SPOTLIGHT: Stormers XXIII forwards coach Helmut Lehmann revealed how preparations for both the Currie Cup and United Rugby Championship sides against the Cheetahs and All Blacks, respectively, benefit both teams.
The Stormers XXIII outfit will face the Cheetahs in Round Three of the Currie Cup at Athlone Stadium on Sunday following their bounce-back win against the Sharks last weekend.
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On Friday, the Stormers URC side will face the All Blacks in the opening clash of the Greatest Rivalry tour at the DHL Stadium, where the New Zealanders will face the “big four” South African sides in the intercontinental tournament and four Tests against the Springboks.
Lehmann explained how the two teams’ respective oppositions helped each other prepare for their encounters in an online media conference on Tuesday.
“We’re always training at the same venue, sharing the HPC [High Performance Centre], “Lehmann said.
“There’s excitement from the Currie Cup side and getting into this New Zealand v Stormers match [for the URC team], there’s just a buzz around the coaches and the players.
“That just goes onto the field in terms of the quality of preparation. Training against each other gave both sides pictures that they needed.
“You can say that the Cheetahs sometimes can play a lot like the All Blacks with quick ball.
“So we’re giving them good pictures and vice versa, and it’s just been an unbelievable week.”
Utility back Suleiman Hartzenberg echoed Lehmann’s sentiments.
“It’s been a good week [of training]. Both sides just tried to give each other the best foot forward.
“Whether it would be preparing each other for the All Blacks or the Cheetahs, so either team is well prepared for the weekend.”
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Shifting the focus to the Round Three domestic encounter, Lehmann and Hartzenberg highlighted the threats the Cheetahs pose and how they prepared to deal with them.
“We will be tested all round. They’ve got a very mature pack first and foremost,” Lehmann said.
“There’s some guys in their pack with a lot of experience.
“With the coaching staff they possess, the way they prepare to put teams under pressure in the overall set pieces will be a threat.
“Also the way they play as a team; they love to give the ball some air with Faf [De Klerk] being there now and the kicking game they have with someone like Jaco [Van der Walt] at flyhalf.
“There are threats all around so we’ll have to be dialled in, and we also have to keep the weather in mind.”
He highlighted the Cheetah forwards’ experience and the potential conditions in which the match might be played, with rain expected and a high of 13 degrees Celsius.
“They have a lot of maturity in that group with players like Carl Wegner, Victor Sekekete, Aranos Coetzee at tighthead and Marco Janse van Rensburg at hooker, so they are seasoned campaigners.
“You can see they’re well established and coached by Tiaan [Liebenberg] and that’s definitely where the game will be decided in terms of momentum.
“And weather-wise, it definitely will be a game that will be won in the pack, so they will definitely test us in the scrums and line-outs, so we’re definitely looking forward to that challenge.”
Apart from the experienced forwards, there’s also the threat of double world champion Faf de Klerk, who has made a massive difference since joining the Bloemfontein-based outfit.
Hartzenberg touched on what De Klerk will bring and his personal preparation for the challenge.
“We know Faf is an experienced campaigner; I mean he’s a World Cup winner, so he will try and put us in corners and also play a territorial game.
“But we also know they love playing the ball wide so we’ll see where exactly everything pans out.
“For me it’s about preparing for those contestable [kicks] and getting everything in this week to ensure that I’m good under the high ball and preparing for all scenarios pretty much.”
“Yes, we know he’s a great player and a phenomenal person, but we obviously have to focus on ourselves and prepare as well as we can.”
“One thing we know is that Cape Town loves the All Blacks”https://t.co/eNcLXEAeXd
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