Stormers to challenge status quo
The Cape franchise have been hard at work during the current pre-season trying to build a culture and game that will not only bring them success on the field, but also change the way many see the game being played in the country.
" It is a youngish team and a new management that we got here. It allows us to change things a little bit and try something new," said Fleck.
"We are nearly there in terms of what we want to do and how we want to do it, but we are looking for the why and the purpose. We understand where we want to go and we want to build a culture around that.
"I want the culture here to be real and authentic and that is my message to the players. We are going to work incredibly hard, we are going to coach and play without fear and we are going to change mind-sets and challenge the status quo – whether that is here at Western Province or in South African rugby.
"We have a lot of inspiration within this group and a lot of ambitions. Our culture will be built on the successes of the past. – we are going to be pretty humble and hardworking, but we are going to be pretty fearless in our approach," Fleck added.
Fleck, who was the team's backline coach for a number of seasons, is hoping to bring about this revolution by developing an all-round game just like the one adopted by World Cup winners New Zealand.
"They [New Zealand] pretty much got a pragmatic view on how the game should be played. They talk about an all-round game – they got to be strong in every single aspect of the game and that is what they can do.
"Heyneke [Meyer] was saying they [New Zealand] kicked the most and he was not wrong, but it is how effective they kick and when they kick. Its things like that which we need to learn and get better at. They still pass the most in any test match and they are still are putting that player into space, but they do not run everything, which is maybe the perception out there.
"We are always trying to find the answer in South African rugby instead of just looking at the fundamentals, which has not really changed over time. You got to get your basics right, you got to simplify your game plan, you got to have plan B and you got to execute it brilliantly.
"We got to have the ability to run, to kick and tackle. We are going to build on the fundamentals over the last couple of years, which was a strong set piece and a strong defence. However, we need to up our game in terms of our kicking game and our attacking game. We are going to work incredibly hard to get that right.
"The best sides in the world are strong in every aspect of the game. We got to have a real simple and pragmatic view on how we want to play. We want to play a high tempo, high intensity game and it got to be without fear."
While the Stormers are firmly set on how they want to approach the game on the field, they have also been getting assistance off it with the likes of former England head coach Stuart Lancaster.
Lancaster has been visiting a number of countries on a fact finding mission and Cape Town was one of his stops. Fleck also confirmed that Springbok assistant coach Johan van Graan will also visit the Stormers' training base.
"Stuart chatted about his experiences as head coach of England – the good and the bad of it, and his experiences during the World Cup," said Fleck. "It was a great talk – all the coaches from within the union were here.
"It was great catching up with him and understanding the pressures of a head coach and coaching a massive union like England.
"Johan van Graan is coming next week and he is another guy with experience of coaching at the top level.
"Our philosophy is that we are open and we want to learn from the best, whether that is from a cultural, managerial or a technical point of view. We are certainly all encompassing, but we certainly do have ideas of our own on how we want to run our own culture, how we want to run our team and what we want to play and how we want to play it. I don't think we will move too far from those fundamentals."
The Stormers will play warm-up games against the South Western District Eagles on January 30 and Argentina's Jaguares on February 13.
By Warren Fortune
@FortuneWarren
@rugby365com
