Following their 19-19 draw against the Stormers, Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said Robbie Fleck’s side will have to score more tries if they want to go all the way.
The Stormers have scored the least tries (23) this Super Rugby season, while they have made the ninth-most carries and rank 13th when it comes to metres carried.
The Stormers’ contest against Super Rugby’s most successful side was a massive one, but it wasn’t one in which significant change was brought to their try-scoring stats as they only managed one. Their defence, though, was excellent.
Their scramble defence got a special mention by Fleck after the game, and for good reason.
Ahead of the game, Fleck also said they’d have to score more tries than the Kiwis, and while they didn’t succeed in doing that, it’s a game that provided no shortage of positives for the bottom-of-the-conference Stormers.
“They are going to have to score more tries, there is no doubt about that,” Robertson said. “You have to defend well, but also be able to score tries. That is part of the game that they have grown. Certainly, with the tactics that they have, it keeps them in the game, just like the Sharks.”
Robertson also said the Stormers would be “extremely hard to beat” if they could just play the way they did at the weekend away from home.
While the Cape side have lost just one match at Newlands this season, their away record isn’t as pretty.
“The big challenge for the South African teams is to win on the road,” he said. “The Bulls have done that for the first time in a long time (against the Rebels). The Stormers have won two of their last 15 away games. They are tough to beat at home but they have got to learn to win on the road. Once they do that, they will give themselves an opportunity to get home play-offs and really contest for Super Rugby.
“If they show the intensity they did tonight on the road they will be extremely tough to beat.”
The Stormers can extend their solid run at home when they host the Highlanders on Saturday.