DHL Stormers embracing big stage
DHL Stormers Head Coach Robbie Fleck has encouraged his side to embrace the occasion in their Vodacom Super Rugby quarterfinal against the Chiefs at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
The DHL Stormers have won their last four games to end the regular season seeded third, which has set up a knock-out clash with the Hamilton-based Chiefs, and Fleck says that they are looking forward to the prospect of playing in front of a packed DHL Newlands with a semifinal spot up for grabs.
“Our guys are excited to get out there and hopefully there are over 40 000 people.
“Regardless of who we are playing, they must embrace the fact that they are playing at DHL Newlands in a quarterfinal and there will be massive support, so it will be a fantastic occasion.
“We are going to work incredibly hard this week to do our fans and this team proud,” he said.
The DHL Stormers have been bolstered by the return from injury of a number of key players this week, which has given Fleck some pleasant selection headaches.
“From an injury point of view Dan du Plessis, Oli Kebble, Frans Malherbe and Nizaam Carr have all been cleared fit to play and are available for selection this week.
“It is a good squad to select from and the players know there is competition for places, which is great for us,” he said.
However, one player who will not be involved this weekend is flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis who has been ruled out with an ankle injury, with Rob du Preez and Brandon Thomson vying for the vacant No.10 jersey.
“He [Du Plessis] went for a scan today and we will get feedback from the specialist but he is definitely out for this weekend,” said Fleck.
Whilst Fleck knows that his team will be tested by a dangerous Chiefs side, he said that they will not move away from the strengths which earned them a home quarterfinal this season.
“We don’t want to make major change because it is the quarterfinals or the Chiefs, we want to stick to our core beliefs and what we started, whether that is our culture off the field or how we want to play.
“We are not going to go out there to kick and defend, we are going to go out there to play. We are going to embrace what we have started, and we want to stick to our strengths.
We are an improving side regardless of who we played against and what the various groups were. We have had our fair share of injuries, but we have fought our way hard to get 15 log points from the last three games including a tour, which is massive credit to this team.
“In the last couple of weeks we have started to find a nice balance in the way we play, but certainly we are going to be fearless in our approach.
“As the season has gone on we have matured as a group, we have matured in the way that we want to play the game and I feel that pragmatic view is starting to come through now,” Fleck added.
