AUDIO: Stormers had their 'Rubicon moment'
SUPER RUGBY REACTION: The Stormers may still sit at the bottom of the South African conference and 12th overall, but they have the ability to go all the way.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck, speaking in the wake of his team’s 19-all draw with the table-topping and defending champion Crusaders this weekend, intimated that his team has the ability to beat any side.
In a very tightly contested SA conference there are just six points between the bottom-placed Stormers (26 points from 12 games) and the first-placed Bulls (32 from 12).
The Stormers play the Highlanders (29 from 13 games and in eighth place) at Newlands this week.
That is followed by games against the Lions (in Johannesburg), Sunwolves (Cape Town) and Sharks (Cape Town).
“It might have been a Rubicon moment for us, in terms of the rest of the campaign,” Fleck said after the come-from-behind (10-19 down) draw with a very settled and All Black-laden Crusaders team.
“If we can play like this against the best team in the World, then we can beat most of the teams that come our way in the next couple of weeks,” Fleck said, adding that he was “very proud” of the effort the players produced.
“The effort that the boys put in – especially on defence – showed the character of the group and the fight that is still in the side.
“As I said, these guys [Crusaders] are a quality team and they did show it at various stages in the game.
“I felt that tactically we were very smart, we put them under pressure, we put their line-out under pressure and our kicking game was spot on.”
Fleck pointed out that the last time the Stormers beat the Crusaders, back in 2010, the defence was also key to their performance.
Captain Siyamthanda Kolisi admitted it is going to a fight to the bitter end, but they believe they can still win the competition.
“We are in a position where we have to win all the games, just to make the play-offs,” Kolisi said.
“It is quite tight in our conference, but I think the way we played [against the Crusaders] we can take confidence into to the next game [against the Highlanders].”
Fleck said to stay in the hunt they will require the same “effort and intensity” they displayed against the Crusaders.
The coach said he felt the only team that outplayed them this year was the Bulls in Round One – a 3-40 loss.
“We’ve been in every single game and we just haven’t really had the rub of the green in some games,” he said.
He spoke about the bounce of the ball and the inches in some games.
“We can’t look back, to be honest, we’ve got to look forward.
“That’s why I said, it was a Rubicon moment. We know that we can play against the best and perform against the best.
“It’s in our hands. We’re six points adrift of the top teams in the conference. We’ve got three games at home and one away.
“If we give the effort and the attitude, the intensity that we brought [against the Crusaders], then we can work on other little things – cut out the errors a bit.
“If we bring that every single week, then I think that we would have a good chance of qualifying.”
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