Stormers set their sights higher

 

Coetzee's side were pushed hard in their first home game of the season against a Blues side that was reduced to 14 men for most of the match after lock Hayden Triggs was shown a red card for punching Duane Vermeulen, but managed to do enough to win and top the South African conference after two rounds.

 

Despite the numerical advantage the home side were forced to work hard for their second consecutive win against a desperate Blues side that managed to expose a few of their frailties.

 

Coetzee pointed out that playing against a team that gets a red card can often be tricky, and admitted that although his side have not lost yet this season there is still considerable room for improvement.

 

"What happens with a red card is that a team gets galvanised and they know they are under the pump so everyone raises their workrate.

 

"There are a few things that we are not happy about in terms of our game, but we played against eight All Blacks and for a lot of youngsters here playing against All Blacks is a physical encounter.

 

"I know that it is far from the standard we have set and there are a lot of things to fix still, and we must move on and look at those things," he said.

 

Coetzee said that the biggest areas of concern are the breakdown and their line-out, where the Blues were able to put them under significant pressure.

 

"The breakdown was a massive issue for us, they came at us at the breakdown and their rush [defence] was also something we could have handled better.

 

"We had about 18 line-outs in the game and our execution rate was below 50%, they depowered our maul with the way they defended and that is also something we didn't expect they would do so credit to them," he said.

 

However, despite those issues Coetzee also took encouragement from the way his side was able to close the game out under pressure to make it two wins from their two games this season.

 

"This is a really good Blues side and I don't take this win lightly, in the context of the competition it is a massive win for us.

 

"It is a positive sign for us especially with Duane leading a young group of players, to handle that pressure.

 

"The areas I am pleased with are the way we scrummed – we could have been rewarded more at scrum-time.

 

"This is a step in the right direction for all these youngsters, especially in the pack. We played against a proper pack and we scrummed well and won the game. That is how you blood players and that is how players gain confidence.

 

"We have won two from two and not the perfect performance, but I think we are moving in the right direction," he added.

 

Next week the Stormers travel to Ellis Park to take on a Lions side that has lost their first two games this season, and Coetzee warned that they will have to be much sharper at the breakdown in particular.

 

"We know what to expect from the Lions, they are a team that will ask a lot of questions wide-wide and direct.

 

"The breakdown we will have to sort out, the Lions are also tough and hard on the ground so we have got to improve on our performance," he said.