Habana back in the mix
The Stormers will be extremely encouraged by the return of Springbok wing Bryan Habana for their clash with the Hurricanes in Palmerston North on Friday.
The wing suffered a serious knee injury against the Chiefs earlier in the season and has recovered incredibly well to be fit to, not only tour, but be considered for selection for their first tour match.
Stormers assistant coach Robbie Fleck said: "It is fantastic to have him [Bryan Habana] back in the mix, he is looking fit, he is looking strong and it brings a lot of confidence to the team.
"We'd have no qualms about starting with Bryan [Habana] after his lay-off. He's a Springbok… he's one of the few players you could do that with. He's done it before and we've done it before with him.
"He is one of the players that we can comfortably put straight back into the side," Fleck added.
The Stormers have had an extra week to prepare for this match against the Hurricanes and Fleck is happy with the preparations that the side has made.
"We have done a lot of homework [on the Hurricanes] and we have had an extra week to prepare for the Hurricanes.
"We need to stick to our structure and put them under pressure at set-piece and prevent them from getting any turnover ball.
"They were probably the best attacking side in the competition last year, they like a bit of a loose game and like to speed things up so it is important for us that we stick to our own game plan," Fleck mentioned.
The Stormers are coming off a great win against the Sharks two weeks ago have started to come into their own this season and they understand their game and how they are going to beat teams.
"Our main aim is to not give them any opportunities. We want to suffocate and strangle them so it is important that our set-piece is up to standard and in our attack that we are pretty conservative and control possession.
"Because of the nature of the way that they play, they play a high risk game and if they make mistakes it allows us to pounce on those opportunities." the assistant said.
The Stormers are still in the process of regaining the services of a number of injured players and Fleck is excited about their prospects when these players return.
"We are just waiting for the likes of Eben Etzebeth and the other guys to come back and that is when Stormers rugby is going to be really strong," he concluded.
