Stormers stick to their guns

The Stormers may have their critics, but they are backing their conservative style to please the crowd by securing a home final.

The ultra-consistent Cape outfit know that the brand of rugby they play is not as attractive as that of their semifinal opponents the Sharks, but that matters little as they have earned the advantages they will enjoy in their knock-out clash at Newlands on Saturday.

The highly structured defensive game that the Stormers employ got them to the top of the Super Rugby standings, and they are determined to make that hard work throughout the season count when they take on the more exciting Sharks this weekend.

Backline coach Robbie Fleck told this website that although there are few secrets about the Stormers' approach, they will back that style to get them through the pressurised atmosphere of the semifinal.

He said: "It is pretty clear the way we play at the moment, and it is not pretty but it is effective.

"It is about getting up into the opposition half and then we apply pressure through a pretty conservative attacking approach.

"It is helping us get those wins and it is important when you get to this stage of the competition that you just stick to what has worked and I am sure the Sharks are going to stick to what has worked for them over the last couple of weeks," he added.

The Sharks' game has come together nicely at the end of the season, which has given them some valuable momentum, and Fleck said that their performance against the Reds in Brisbane last week was particularly impressive given the determination and commitment they showed on defence to go with their dangerous attacking play.

"It was a very impressive defensive performance against the Reds and when it comes to play-off rugby that is when it really counts the most.

"They leaked a few tries at the beginning of the season but since about halfway through the competition when they were under pressure they turned things around, especially defensively," he said.

However, Fleck is adamant that the Stormers' less daring approach could work in their favour in what should be a classic clash of styles on Saturday.

"They have been playing a superb brand of rugby but when it comes to semifinals there is a lot more pressure and there is less freedom and that is when the defences are going to play their part.

"We are going to stick to what we have done and try and apply pressure either through the set-pieces or our kicking game and force them into mistakes , kick our goals when they are on offer and out of the scraps that are there hopefully the boys can pounce on it and score a try or two," he said.

The Sharks have been devastating on the counter-attack in recent weeks, and Fleck said that although this approach makes them dangerous customers, it is also something that the vaunted Stormers defence could exploit.

He said: "We obviously know how they play, they don't want to be setting any rucks - they will try and keep the ball off the deck and keep the ball alive to get their big boys running onto the ball.

"Once they get a bit of momentum they send it to their pacey wingers, so it is effective stuff and if your kicking game is not on song like ours wasn't in Durban then they will punish you.

"We have got to be pretty smart in the way that we kick and we need to build a good chase line and put them under pressure. They tend to drop enough players back to create that counter-attack opportunity which does make them dangerous.

"But if one or two of those offloads don't stick then it could reverse their fortunes for them  as it could lead to a lot of mistakes and turnover ball.

"With the way that we defend at the moment hopefully we can force them into one or two errors which could count in our favour," added Fleck.

By Michael de Vries