The Stormers’ fixture against the Bulls comes at the perfect time for the John Dobson’s team.
Against the Hurricanes, the Stormers not only aced their task of shutting down the Kiwi dangermen, but they also made it look even better by keeping them scoreless.
It was the perfect start to their Super Rugby campaign, and the fact that the Bulls will present a different challenge in Saturday’s north-south derby is good, especially so early in the season.
At the weekend, it was the Hurricanes’ breakdown work and their X-factor across the park that would have been some of the biggest factors to circle in red for the Stormers.
But the Hurricanes’ performance, in hindsight, made all that hype look just too extra. Not to take anything away from the Stormers, though. They were outstanding.
Their scrummaging was fine, their maul a thing of beauty, their defence superb and the way they controlled the tempo of the game was a sight to behold. The Hurricanes simply had no chance, and their errors and poor decision-making - like continuously going for the flat pass when they did have possession although they stood no chance against the Stormers where the gainline was concerned - made a lekker afternoon in Cape Town even more unpleasant for the visitors.
But this week it won’t be a Kiwi-flavoured threat the Stormers will be out to overcome, it will be a Bulls team that knows how to use a kicking game to their advantage, a team whose hunger knows no bounds when it comes to forward dominance. But that doesn’t mean they have no artillery beyond those in the single-digit jumpers. Stormers assistant coach Norman Laker yesterday spoke about the impact the Bulls can bring on attack should they choose to call on it.
“(Rosko) Specman and (Cornal) Hendriks are both good wings, it’s going to be a different threat, but very similar in that they have good feet and good speed. The Hurricanes are a bit bigger and a bit stronger. We’re focusing a lot on ourselves, we want to get into (a) rhythm,” Laker said.
If a guy like Morne Steyn starts at No 10 for the Bulls at Newlands this weekend, it would be naive to expect there to be no going down the aerial route, to a certain extent, at least.
But Laker warned not to think of Steyn simply as a kicking metronome.
“Morne is an experienced guy, he’s a quality flyhalf, so I think he will be able to adapt to the game, so if he needs to run it he will do so, but he sure has a phenomenal kicking game. We are wary of his boot,” Laker said.