Proudfoot: We are focussed

The team spent much of the day dissecting their previous defeat against the Chiefs in Hamilton and forward coach Mathew Proudfoot was not pulling punches in his assessment of their performance. “We were very disappointed with our display in the second half. It was a display that didn’t present ourselves as we want too. We made too many errors and that is not what we are about.

“We had a long and honest chat about it afterwards and after a great training session today spirits are up and we are ready for the challenge of the upcoming week.”

Whilst a decision has yet to be made on Jaque Fourie, Mathew declared a clean bill of health for the forward pack, with Nick Koster back in contention for this weekend’s game. One man who is pushing for a start is Tiaan Liebenberg and Proudfoot admits the coaching staff have a tough decision to make in the hooking position.

“Tiaan is definitely pushing for a start this weekend. Deon [Fourie] has been playing fantastically well, but Tiaan is also looking very good. We have a very difficult decision to make and we will have to think long and hard on who to play. It is a good position to be in.”

Up next is the Blues and Proudfoot feels the team from Auckland offer a similar challenge to what the DHL Stormers experienced in their last home clash at Newlands. He said: “They play with a similar style to the Crusaders and have very dangerous back field runners. Perhaps there locks and flanks are a little bit bigger, so the tackle situation is going to be a decisive battle. How we combat the collision point will be a major element for us this week, so we this will be an important focus for us this week.”