DHL Stormers switch focus to tour

An evenly match contest between the sides was separated by Wyatt Crockett’s two tries either side of the half time break. Jaque Fourie dotted down for the home team with flyhalves Lionel Cronje and Matt Berquist scoring the rest of the points for the Stormers and Crusaders respectively.

Despite the loss, the coach praised both teams for what was a very evenly match and hard fought contest. He said: “Obviously we are disappointed by the loss, but it was a great game of rugby. We can take some positives out of the game, but there were some unnecessary mistakes during the game. That being said, Crusaders kept their composure and credit must go to their performance tonight.”

“We had a number of opportunities, which we didn’t take and we will look at what went wrong. This being said the boys put in a great effort and I take my hat off to the players for this.”

The team is now focussing on the next few weeks, when they head out on a four-week tour of Australasia. Coetzee remains optimistic of the DHL Stormers position at this stage of the season and is looking forward to the next stage of the campaign. “We are still No 1 in our conference and third overall. Whilst we are disappointed, we know we can fix this on tour. We have historically toured well and now we are focussing on what we need to do to get back to winning ways.”

Johann Sadie, in his run-on debut for the DHL Stormers, was singled out for special praise from the coach. He said: “Sadie showed we made a good choice in selecting him. He got a bit tired towards the end, but he put in a good performance and we were impressed with his display.”

On the injury front both Nick Koster and Jaque Fourie, whilst CJ van der Linde had a bump on his ribs. None of the injuries are seen as serious and all three will tour. Meanwhile, Bryan Habana and Peter Grant should both be ready for next week’s clash against the Chiefs in New Zealand.

Scorers

Stormers 14 – Try: Jaque Fourie. Penalties: Lionel Cronje (3)

Crusaders 20 – Tries: Wyatt Crockett(2). Conversion: Mathew Berquist. Penalty: Mathew Berquist

DHL Stormers Touring Squad:

CJ van der Linde, Deon Fourie, Brok Harris, Rynhardt Elstadt, Andries Bekker, Schalk Burger, Francois Louw, Duane Vermeulen, Ricky Januarie, Peter Grant, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Gio Aplon, Conrad Jantjes, Tiaan Liebenberg, Wicus Blaauw, De Kock Steenkamp, Nick Koster, Dewaldt Duvenage, Anton van Zyl, Juan de Jongh, Lionel Cronje, Johann Sadie, Steven Kitshoff