'Progressive campaign' for Stormers XXIII despite fading play-off hopes
REACTION: The Stormers XXIII’s Currie Cup season is hanging on by a thread following their 7-29 defeat to the Pumas at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.
Despite the heavy setback, the Stormers XXIII coach Tom Dawson-Squibb described the campaign as “really progressive” on an individual level, although the team’s play-off hopes are now in serious jeopardy with just two rounds remaining.
The Capetonians are currently sixth on the log with 11 points after recording just two victories from their opening five matches.
Ironically, the Stormers were their own worst enemies against the Pumas, similar to their Round five clash against Cheetahs last weekend.
In Nelspruit, they were denied an early try after being held up over the line and enjoyed nine entries into the Pumas’ 22, but repeatedly failed to turn pressure into points.
The Pumas, by contrast, were clinical when presented with opportunities. They made just seven visits to the Stormers’ 22 but crossed the try line four times to secure a convincing bonus-point victory.
“I’ve got to give credit to the Pumas, they were able to blunt our attack nicely,” Stormers head coach Dawson-Squibb said.
“There’s probably one or two little technical things we can change up in just our execution of our attack.
“We had lots of opportunities in the 22.
“I never doubt this team’s will and desire to play for each other. It’s actually amazing.”
The Stormers’ afternoon was further soured by a string of injuries, with experienced head Stefan Ungerer forced off in the 24th minute before captain Jean-Luc du Plessis suffered a suspected wrist injury shortly after half-time.
The extent of the injuries was not immediately known, but the Stormers coach admitted the disruption had a significant impact on his team’s rhythm and game plan.
“I’m not sure in my coaching career if I’ve had a game where we’ve had five guys off with proper injuries before the 50th minute.
“I think that affects the rhythm in any team.
“But having said that, we continued to play and create chances despite the setbacks.”
Now the focus turns to Loftus and despite the setback, the Stormers coach believes there are positives to take into next week’s crucial Round Six encounter against the Bulls XV at Loftus Versfeld.
With injuries likely to force changes to the line-up, the Stormers will need to regroup quickly as they look to keep their play-off hopes alive.
“We want to go to Loftus with energy and be proud of our performance,” Dawson-Squibb admitted.
“I’m pretty sure there’ll be some enforced changes next week, but that might give us some really nice energy and impetus where guys get opportunities.
“Individually, it’s been a really progressive campaign. I know that’s difficult to hear because we haven’t won the games we want to. I think we had an opportunity against Cheetahs to win that game and we didn’t. And then last night, we probably didn’t have the opportunity.
“But if you look at the chances created, it was quite high. And I think there’s some key areas of our game that didn’t quite fire as we would have liked them to.
“And that’s what we’ve got to work on.”
The Bulls XV face the Cheetahs on Sunday, with the result potentially having a significant bearing on the Stormers XXIII’s hopes of securing a place in the knock-out stages.
