Fleck: We need to be patient on attack

The Stormers started their 2016 Super Rugby campaign with a convincing 33-9 bonus-point win against arch rivals, the Bulls, last weekend, but Fleck was not satisfied with his team's performance in the first 40 minutes of that match. 

"I felt that we just lost patience with our attack in the first half," said Fleck at the team's High Performance Centre in Bellville.

"We probably should have put the Bulls under a bit more pressure with ball in hand in that first half like we did in that second half.

"We probably tried to force it a little bit and that is something we have spoken about."

"We just need to learn to be more patient and build a few phases and starve the opposition of any opportunities."

Patience on attack was not the only area the Stormers worked on in training this week. Fleck also felt that their tactical kicking was a bit rusty in the first half at Newlands.

"Our tactical kicking needed a bit of improvement from that first half performance, but I think that we sorted it out at half time and we changed our tactics a little bit which worked in our favour. 

"That is something which we can always work on," said Fleck.

The Cheetahs, who love to run with the ball - as witnessed in their 33-34 loss to the Jaguares in Round One, will pose a totally different challenge for the Cape Side on Saturday. 

"The Cheetahs have made it pretty clear with the way they want to play the game. 

"It is part of their tradition and they like to put you under pressure with ball in hand and with a wide game. 

"It is quite different to the Bulls and they are not going to change. They have really advocated that they want to bring bums to seats in Bloem [with running rugby] and we need to prepare for that," Fleck added.

By Warren Fortune

@rugby365com