DHL Stormers to continue ‘making strides’
Following three consecutive wins to start the season, DHL Stormers Head Coach Robbie Fleck wants to see his team continue making strides in Vodacom Super Rugby going forward.
Fleck’s charges ran in three tries in each half of their 41-10 bonus-point victory against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth on Saturday and go into their bye week on top of the Africa Conference One as the only unbeaten South African team in the competition.
The DHL Stormers coach was encouraged by what he saw from his team at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and is excited by the fact that there are still many areas in which they can improve.
“We have made major strides in terms of our game, it was plain to see that when we built some momentum and kept ball in hand we are dangerous and scored six good team tries.
“There are some work-ons, but we are certainly happy that we are making some progress on what we have been working on,” he said.
Despite taking their try-scoring tally to 15 from their three games, Fleck felt that his team could have made even better use of their opportunities against what was a determined Southern Kings side.
“There were moments where we were really good and dominant so there is some frustration that we didn’t convert when we could have.
“The game was never in doubt, but I would have liked us to kick on a bit more.
“It is where we are going, we are going to put ourselves under a bit more pressure with a bit of high risk, but we are pleased with the overall outcome with the bonus point and 41 points.
“We want to keep ball in hand and put teams under pressure, to be fair well played to the Kings who came up with one or two clever plans,” he said.
One of the most pleasing asspects of the win for Fleck was the impact that the trio of debutants made coming off the bench in the final stages.
“The likes of Jaco Coetzee, Justin Phillips and Damian Willemse at the end were outstanding. It just shows the kind of youth that we have got coming through and that we are prepared to back these youngsters.
“I loved the way that Phillips scored that try, Damian Willemse had two touches in five minutes and created magic, so we are certainly excited with what is coming forward in DHL Stormers rugby,” he said.
Another positive was that there were no major injuries as they head into their bye week ahead of their trip to Singapore to face the Sunwolves in Round Five.
“Fortunately we didn’t have any injuries for the first time this season and we can only build from here so we are super excited about what lies ahead,” Fleck added.
