Stormers prop: 'Euro teams more patient and disciplined'

SPOTLIGHT: Teams in the Northern Hemisphere are much more patient and disciplined in games, says Stormers prop Neethling Fouché.

Interpretation of laws has become a major talking point in games involving the South African teams in the Rugby Championship so far.

After racing to a 15-0 lead after 30 minutes in their Round Two match against Munster, things then turned pear-shaped for the Stormers, who eventually lost the match 18-34.

Discipline was a major issue for the Capetonians in the second half of that game and Fouché believes it is something that needs to be addressed in the team.

"I feel the sides here [in Europe] stay very disciplined and they don’t rush it," said the 28-year-old prop.

"That first game we played against Benetton, they went through 20 plus phases and they just stayed patient. I think for us that has been a learning curve.

"You have to be patient; you have to be more disciplined in how you clean out your rucks and how you present the ball for the scrumhalf.

"I think they are a bit more polished. We can get there and there is going to be a lot of learning, but I think we as South Africans want to be competitive in every game and there have already been better signs for us last week [against Munster].

"There were times in that game when we thought we were playing very well. I think for us it is just getting that polished performance at the moment.

"The European sides are more disciplined at the moment and they are staying more patient, compared to New Zealand rugby.

"They [Euro sides] are not as flashy and there aren’t as many offloads. It is guys sticking to the plan and waiting for you to make a mistake."

Stormers assistant coach Labeeb Levy confirmed that his team were seeking clarity on some of the refereeing decisions by Andrew Brace in Limerick.

"We got a meeting today [Tuesday] with the head of Irish referees just to see if we are interpreting it [laws] wrong or if we are not understanding something," said Levy.

"There were a couple of things we picked up on at the weekend.

"We are hoping to get some clarity so that we can adapt or put processes into place to deal with it."

@rugby365com