Stormers coming of age

Stormers coach Allister Coetzee says that he was encouraged by the maturity his team showed in their victory over the Force at Newlands.

The Cape side outscored the visitors by three tries to one in their 24-8 win on Saturday, and Coetzee was full of praise for the way they stuck to their gameplan.

The Stormers dominated territory and possession for the first hour before falling away somewhat, and Coetzee said that they are now playing with far greater balance and maturity than they were earlier in the season.

"I am very pleased with the way that the plan was executed. We exited very well and we got the balance spot on.

"I think that the team is maturing, there is a collective buy-in and they understand the plan clearly, everyone is on the same page,"he said.

The Stormers coach said that although they are yet to produce an 80-minute performance this season, the win over the Force was the closest they have come.

"We are still waiting to put a full 80 plus together, we got to 60 tonight which is the first time this season that for the majority of the match we have excuted well.

"I am happy with the physicality, I am happy with the intensity and even the rest of the squad have done really well and backed that up," he said.

Captain Duane Vermeulen said that it was especially satisfying to call the shots consistently as they have battled to assert themselves for extended periods this season.

"We went into this game with a simple plan, they have a good kicking game and we knew we had to counter that. There was a massive work rate from every single oke on that pitch to do their job.

"It is nice to win the territory battle, to play in their half for 60 odd minutes is great, then you can be in front and score tries and have opportunities," he said.

By Michael de Vries