CAPE TOWN - Loose forward Nizaam Carr believes the Stormers just need to play at the tempo they played at during the first six rounds of Super Rugby to “put any team to bed”.
The Stormers suffered three defeats on their tour to New Zealand after producing top performances that included victories over the Chiefs, the Bulls and the Cheetahs before the tour, and Carr feels that they just need to cut down on making mistakes, and put in good preparation, to return to winning ways.
“I think it’s all in your preparation. And if you look at the tempo we played at during the first six games, we’ll put any team to bed. So if we can play with that same tempo and that same physicality because if you make one error the New Zealand teams are going to score. If we can just sharpen up on that I think we’ll be good.”
“There were a number of times when we had them (the Hurricanes) under the pump. I think when we came out in the second half, we spent about 15 minutes on the try line but we didn’t capitalise. I think if we scored there the result could have gone a totally different way.”
“We obviously didn’t do too well on tour, but we feel that we did put them under pressure at times. We spoke to the Hurricanes after the game and they said that they didn’t know what plans to use against us, as in their plans weren’t working, so I think we’re on the right track. We just need to prepare well and plan well and we’ll see the results on the weekend,” Carr said.
There were times on tour that the Stormers had promising try-scoring opportunities, but they failed to finish as they turned over possession in opposition 22 a number of times. And Carr said that the Cape side were putting in the hard work during training, even though the results didn’t always justify that statement.
“We let the pressure off them and they defended well under their posts. And that’s how our season’s been going. We’re not really getting the rewards. Off the field, in our preparation, we’re doing a lot of work. The coaches as well. But at times luck doesn’t go our way, especially against the New Zealand teams. The bounce of the ball would go their way and they’d score.”
Regardless of how the tour went, Robbie Fleck’s team has a golden opportunity to get back on track when they host Tana Umaga’s Blues on Friday, and Carr was positive that his side could “make the step up” against New Zealand’s bottom-of-the-log team. “It’s about us and what we must do and what we must get right. It’s a pity results didn’t go our way, but I think the guys are ready to make that step-up,” he said.