Fleck upbeat about Stormers' direction
The performance was nowhere close to their best, however, Fleck clung onto the few stand-out moments, which he feels is a sign that the squad is heading in the right direction.
"The good thing is that we are creating opportunities. We getting more half breaks and line busts than before, which is good and shows that we are on the right track. The next step is to get that finishing. We haven't created opportunities like that in a long time and that's the most exciting and pleasing part.
"We don't want to be too negative about it [the performance] but we have to improve and the finishing is key. That's the next step and we have to get our support and final pass right.
"It's a work in progress but the good thing is that the players are really becoming comfortable and they starting to make those magic moments. If we can convert half of our line breaks into points, then we are becoming a good team.
"We look at the good stuff and build on that. We are trying to change [the way we play] and there will be times when there are soft moments because we are trying things. We will keep pushing the good stuff and work on the things we identified to improve on.
"We had two focus areas for the match and came through it with flying colours. Obviously we will review this game and work on improving a few other key areas. We have to hang onto the moments of brilliance and the errors are minor things. It is a bit of lack of concentration but we certainly have to look at the good stuff and that is what we will focus on.
"That last try sort of personified what we can do and the players like to do. There were moments in the first half when we managed to retain possession but those individual errors could have cost us more," Fleck said.
Key to the Stormers' victory was the impact made by the replacements, none more so than debutant Brandon Thomson, who replaced Jean-Luc du Plessis after he was substituted for medical reasons – having suffered knocks to his thigh and calf.
"I am pleased for Brandon Thomson and the way he delivered on his debut, which justified his selection. It is pleasing to see another kid step up and play at this level. So it gives us more comfort knowing we have two good flyhalves in the making, who can guide us through the rest of the tournament," he added.
The Stormers lost co-captains Juan de Jongh (delayed concussion) and Frans Malherbe (illness) in the lead up to the match but Fleck refused to use that as an excuse for the poor showing.
"It was not the performance we wanted. We made too many errors and the consistency was not there. We say that we want to improve each week but that was certainly not an improvement from the match against the Lions.
"I have to give credit to the team though for the way they handled the disruptions. Losing both your leaders is not easy and disrupted things a bit, which is no excuse, but we are proud of the boys for pulling off the win.
"I thought they [the Reds] did well, their setpiece and broken play was good. They put us under pressure with their starters but to come away by 18 points and not play to our best is still pretty pleasing," he stated.
