Another loss this weekend for the Stormers, going down 34-11 to the Hurricanes. This is the fourth loss in a row for the Stormers. I seem to remember that before the Super 14 started there were many people who thought this was the Stormers year and that they would finish in the top 4. They now seem to be miles away from achieving such success. And now it looks like things are getting from bad to worse for the Western Cape team, they have now lost their captain, Jean de Villiers for the rest of the season with a groin injury.

For me, the Stormers have too many talented individuals but they can not play as a team. You have the likes of de Villiers, Burger, Watson and Bobo who are good players but they can not seem to get it together as a team. What confuses me even more is that for a team to play as a team they need a good coach. The Stormers have Rassie Erasmus who is rated very highly but he is not getting his troops together. Some are saying you should give the Stormers time and they will gel but I honestly can not see it happening any time soon.

Without de Villiers for the rest of the season, the Stormers will struggle big time. The Stormers play the Highlanders this coming weekend in Dunedin and I suspect they will get hammered again. Then they have home games against the Chiefs and Force, before they end the season with a game against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein. I actually think the Stormers could loose all their remaining games this year.

Before writing this post, I cam across some interesting information from a disgruntled Stormers fan. They raised these valid points: -The Stormers/Wp are based in a province with all the resources. They have a large talent pool, large budget, magnificent stadium & excellent training facilities, favourable weather, passionate and knowledgeble supporters, sports science institute (the rest of the country come to CT for specialist treatment. Director of rugby first Mallet & then Rassie (not stupid people). They have springboks in the team. Comments like “we a new team” “we learning” “we are in a rebuilding phase” “we perfecting our game plan” are all outdated.

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The Sharks have finally named their starting XV for the big one against the Stormers at Newlands on Saturday. Many of us had thought that we would be seeing the Springbok frontrow for the Sharks but there are some changes. Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira is not fit for the game on Saturday having suffered a sternum injury and his place at loosehead prop goes to Deon Carstens. John Smit will start the match at the hooker position ahead of Bismarck du Plessis who is slowly coming back from injury and only finds himself on the bench. Jannie du Plessis completes the Sharks frontrow. The Sharks backline virtually picks itself but it will be interesting to see the Pienaar - Steyn combination at work. Even more interesting will be seeing Steyn going head to head with Jean de Villiers.
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Rassie has been bold! A few weeks ago we talked at length about the possibility of Nick Koster playing on the wing for the Stormers. Many laughed it off saying that the young player is a loose forward and stands no chance on playing on the wing. But Rassie has thought otherwise and has given the young man his Super Rugby debut on the wing for this weekends match against the Sharks.

Of interest to in the starting XV Rassie has picked for the Stormers is the absence of Luke Watson in the starting lineup. The controversial loose forward finds himself on the bench with Duane Vermeulen getting the nod at number 8.
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I am not too sure if Luke Watson expected the treatment he got at Newlands on Sunday when the Stormers played Saracens in their Super 14 warm-up match. Every time Watson got a hold of the ball during the game, he was booed by the fans, even when he scored a try, boo’s rang around Newlands. You would think the opposition fans would be the ones booing but really, there were not that many Saracens fans to begin with and why would they boo Watson. So instead it were Stormers fans booing Watson who are against his, “I felt like puking on the Bok jersey” statement last year.
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Please please please SA Rugby, do not end the hopes of another one of your greatest talents by playing him in the wrong position! All too often in the past, South Africa has been blessed with a wealth of great young rugby talent. But when these players step up from high school and are now playing provincial rugby, the coaches and administration start to think about playing them out of position. In some circumstances, there are players who can play in multiple positions and thus it is a challenge to find the best position for that player and as a result that ’star’ player turns into a flop all because they could not find his best position.
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