Brumbies thrashing fresh in Stormers' minds

The Stormers were dumped out of last year's Super Rugby play-offs after the Brumbies beat them 39-19 in a one-sided affair in Cape Town.

The Canberra side outscored the Cape team six tries to one on that day and dominated almost every facet play, particularly at the breakdowns.

Stormers head coach Robbie Fleck said that his team can learn from that game to try and counter the Brumbies' strengths on Saturday and get back to winning ways after their 13-18 home defeat to the Sharks this past weekend. 

"Whatever happened last year happened," said Fleck, who was addressing media at the team's High Performance Centre in Bellville. 

"We can learn from it in the sense of what is coming.

"They [Brumbies] are going to put us under massive pressure at the breakdowns with the likes of Scott Fardy, David Pocock and Stephen Moore.  

"Their contesting line-out was outstanding against us in that quarterfinal. There kicking was outstanding - they had us under intense pressure.

"We understand that we are going to be under pressure in terms of our exits and we are going to be under pressure at the breakdowns."

Fleck acknowledged that their set-piece play would also need to improve ahead of Saturday's match 

"I felt our line-out was pretty good [against the Sharks], apart from one or two deliveries to the No.9. 

"Our scrumming was not where it should be. Credit to the Sharks, they scrummed really well in that first half. We had a good scrum in the second half then we let ourselves down with that last one.

"It is something we need to rectify before the Brumbies. Their set piece is exceptionally good and for the last two seasons now they probably scored the most tries from line-outs and they are showing the way forward again," Fleck added.

While the loss to the Sharks was a setback for the Cape side, Fleck believes they are still on the right path in terms of the type of game they want to play. 

"The camp is in a good space. We are just ready to get going. We moved on from the Sharks game.

"Obviously we were disappointed on the weekend in losing that game, but there was some really positive stuff that came out from it.

"We are on a different path and we are going to continue that way. We are going to keep working on those positives and keep improving our team as we go along," said Fleck.

By Warren Fortune

@rugby365com