Kolisi v Pocock: A very big job
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The Stormers will have their work cut out for them at the breakdown, when they clash with the Brumbies in a Super Rugby crunch encounter at Newlands on Saturday.
Brumbies fetcher David Pocock has been in sublime form this season for the Canberra outfit, dominating the breakdown point.
Now add Scott Fardy and Ita Vaea to the loose forward mix and all of a sudden their loosies are a well-balanced physical juggernaut, leaving the Stormers forwards with it all to do on Saturday.
Pocock has notched up a whopping 15 steels on the ground this season, ranking him No.2 in Super Rugby in the turnover department – only to Liam Gill, who has tallied up 19.
While Pocock has been relentless on the turf, Fardy has been no slouch himself – accumulating 11 turnovers, placing himself sixth overall. Not to mention his line-out ability against a woeful Stormers set-piece.
The Stormers, however, have once again named an all Springbok loose forward combo for Saturday – one that can definitely match up physically to the Brumbies.
Stormers and Springbok flank Siya Kolisi knows the magnitude of the game and he believes they are up for the challenge.
"It will be a very big job this weekend, they are very good breakdown players," said Kolisi told a media scrum.
"We have played against a lot of good breakdown players – like Michael Hooper – but we are going to have to be on our A game this weekend."
Kolisi compared the Brumbies' approach to the Bulls, explaining they adopt a similar direct, physical approach.
"They are a very good set-piece side, they have got a good maul and scrum, and they are very physical and dominant," he said.
"They are direct like the Bulls. If you don't match them physically that's where you will lose the battle."
The Stormers have been boosted with the return of Eben Etzebeth and Steven Kitshoff and Kolisi said the camp is excited with the return of the Springbok lock and the in-form prop.
"They are huge players for us, they are experienced, everybody is excited and its a positive vibe."
Kolisi added that they are focusing on what they need to fix in their structures, not what the Brumbies are going to deliver.
"It's not what the other team brings, its what we do, and we actually made mistakes last week and that is how the cheetahs got their points.
"It is not like we were outplayed or anything, so we all know we have to focus on the line-outs, the breakdown, and not loosing the ball in contact."
"The scrums have been going down well," added Kolisi.
By Andrew Duncan
@AndrewSlamDunc
@rugby365com
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