DHL Stormers pulling together
DHL Stormers co-captain Juan de Jongh paid tribute to the positive culture within the squad following a morale-boosting win against the Brumbies at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
The DHL Stormers managed to frustrate the previously unbeaten Canberra side with a tactical kicking game which saw 70% of the match played in Brumbies territory, and second-half tries from Siya Kolisi, Dillyn Leyds and Vincent Koch put the seal on a composed performance.
De Jongh said that a big part of their early success this season, with three wins from their first four games, has been down to the positive team culture that has been developed.
“We have got a good culture going here, I have learned a lot from playing for other teams like the [Springbok] Sevens in terms of the culture and we are going in the same direction.
“There are no egos in this squad, and I feel like when the senior players talk the youngsters follow,” he said.
De Jongh said that it will be crucial for the DHL Stormers to build on this result as they look to keep the winning momentum going when they face the Jaguares in Buenos Aires next week.
“The balance of the team is absolutely fantastic at this moment, and we have to make sure we keep building and working on that to get the results.
“We are still working on it and still building on it, it is a long season so we have got a lot of hard work in front of us,” he said.
The experienced midfielder paid tribute to the input of the coaching staff in devising a gameplan which was able to nullify the strengths of the Brumbies.
“The guys put a lot of pressure on them for the whole 80 minutes and didn’t back off. Our forwards did a fantastic job and our backs as well, but a lot of credit must also go to our management for the gameplan.
“We knew Pocock was going to make it difficult at the breakdown and he probably had one or two steals. Our attacking kicks worked fantastically today.
“We probably played a little boring rugby for the people out there, but the gameplan was absolutely fantastic and credit must go to the coach and his management for working so hard, even on Sundays, just to make life easier for us,” he explained.
