Stormers’ first step must be to dispense with early game nap

It might not be entirely accurate to suggest that their tendency to start against the Vodacom Bulls like they are just getting out of bed, or indeed still in bed, has always cost the DHL Stormers in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship games against their arch-rivals.

Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar has made something of a habit of being an early scorer against the Stormers. But while the early try he scored at Loftus last year, within two minutes of the start, set his team on the path to what was a drought-breaking victory against the Cape team, snapping a seven-match losing streak, he also did it in the biggest game the two sides have played in the competition.

That was the 2022 URC final at DHL Stadium. The Bulls started like a house on fire, they swarmed all over the Stormers like angry bees. No sooner had the game started than Grobbelaar was over for the try off an attacking lineout. What happened then? Well, for the next nearly half an hour the Bulls continued to dominate. But they didn’t take the significant lead their efforts probably deserved.

Instead, the Stormers hung in, they weathered the storm, and by the time halftime arrived it felt like the momentum had shifted enough, even though the Stormers were still trailing, to loudly proclaim in the area where the media were getting their halftime refreshments that day, that the Stormers were going to win. Joel Stransky didn’t see what I saw and said as much, but it turned out to be true.

GOING BEHIND EARLY IS A HABIT

Not long after the restart for the second half, Evan Roos had scored for the Stormers, the hosts took the lead and won the game and the inaugural URC title. Actually, there were stages of that aforementioned game at Loftus last March when it appeared the Stormers might do something similar. Had they not made mistakes that the Bulls seized upon, the Stormers might have fought back from the big early deficit - 16 points - they were staring down quite early in the game.

The previous Loftus north/south derby had gone that way. The Bulls dominated early against a Stormers team significantly weakened by injury. But the Stormers fought back and eventually won the game.

There is a pattern though that the Stormers have noted, and which was pretty obvious when the two sides met in Cape Town a few weeks ago. This time it was Jan-Hendrik Wessels who scored early as the Bulls made early profit of their quest to exploit the Stormers’ vulnerabilities in their defence of the wide channels.

With the game kicking off early, 2pm, and the routes into Cape Town congested by lunch time Saturday traffic, many Stormers fans weren’t even in their seats yet when their team trailed 5-0. It required a fightback from the Stormers, yet another one. In fact, although they did lead sporadically, it felt like that early score set the tempo, and the hosts were playing catchup for most of the game.

The bottom line is that conceding early to the Bulls has become a habit, or has always been a habit. And the Stormers have noted it as they head to Pretoria for Saturday’s return derby.

NEED TO GO TO DARK PLACES

“We know poor starts have hurt us against the Bulls,” said experienced lock Ruben van Heerden, who was schooled not far away from Loftus, at Affies.

“There is a lot of heart in this team. We don’t ever give up. Many times we have come back and won games where we have trailed. But it is better not to put yourself in that position. It is imperative that we start well at Loftus. We have to come out firing, we have to be clinical from the start. We can’t be sleeping for one second or we will be punished.

“No one cares if you win the second half if you lose the game. It is a mindset thing. It is an awareness thing. It is something we have been thinking about and want to rectify,” he added.

The Stormers’ winning sequence against the Bulls is not so long ago that they have forgotten how to beat the team from Pretoria. And if they were forgetting it, they just need to look at some of the performances the Sharks have turned in against the Bulls this season. It requires digging deep.

“We need to go to dark places. It sounds like a cliché, but in these games it comes down to who wants it more,” said Van Heerden.

There’s certainly plenty on the line for the Stormers. They are currently listing 10th on the URC log, outside of the top eight that qualify for the URC play-offs and next year’s Investec Champions Cup. Van Heerden knows that it isn’t good enough for a franchise like the Stormers. And while he was very aware in his chat with the media earlier in the week that he might be talking in clichés, he found it hard not to keep repeating the word ‘clinical’.

“We had a lot of entries into the opposition 22 in our last game against the Emirates Lions without coming away with any reward. Generally this season we have been there or thereabouts, but we just haven’t been clinical enough. And all teams have become better at defending mauls. In that regard, the Bulls haven’t evolved, they’ve always been good.

“It will come down to a certain amount of desire. Who wants it more. You can’t dwell on marginal losses (like the last game against the Bulls where the Stormers lost because they missed an easy late conversion attempt). I know it is a cliché, but it does come down to being clinical. We know our current position on the log isn’t good enough, but we also know we are a much better team than that.

“So we have pulled together as a team and told ourselves that we are not a bad team despite what everyone says. We are getting into the right areas and know how to get there, but just aren’t clinical enough when we do.

MOTIVATION IS AROUND THE TEAM TOGETHERNESS

“When it comes to our motivation this week, it is all about the team, about togetherness. We owe it to each other to pull together. We know what we are capable of, and we know we have a certain potential we are not living up to. I will say it again, much of it is because we just aren’t clinical enough. So we’ve pulled together as a group and have told ourselves that we must believe in ourselves.

“We have seven games left. That is enough time to still do something special. But we know we are also running out of runway. Our motivation is for us and the fans. It is not good enough to be 10th on the log as a Stormers team. We have disappointed in certain areas, but we are a better team than we have shown. We have time to do something, but it has to happen this week. We can’t have any more excuses or lament any more missed chances. Our supporters deserve better and we deserve better.”

Van Heerden knows full well though that winning at Loftus is much easier said than done.

“Loftus is always difficult. It is one of the toughest venues to go to as the visiting team,” he said.

“But we are right for the challenge. When you speak about motivation, you don’t have to look too far for that when it comes to a north/south derby. If you lack motivation for a north/south game then you shouldn’t be in the job.”