Vodacom Stormers need to cut out mistakes

That is the view of coach Allister Coetzee before Saturday’s important Vodacom Super 14 match at Newlands. The Stormers won their first two games, but had their campaign derailed when the Brumbies beat them at Newlands last Saturday.

Coetzee conceded after the defeat to the Brumbies two errors in the Stormers’ half led to 10 points for the opposition. The coach also wants his charges to finish off try-scoring opportunities.

“We’re creating opportunities, but I want to see guys finishing them off,” Coetzee said. “It comes down to decision-making, and the guys know we as coaches are putting them under pressure in this department. They need to get it right.

“There will be mistakes, but because we have such a good scrambling defence, we can afford to make the odd error on attack. That’s why I want guys to keep on trying things on attack, but of course, this must be done in the correct area of the field.

“We’re not where we want to be in terms of chemistry, but we have to keep on trying until we click.”

Teams for Newlands:
Vodacom Stormers: 15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Anton van Zyl, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Lionel Cronjé, 22 Sireli Naqelevuki.

Highlanders: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Kenny Lynn, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 10 Michael Hobbs, 9 Jimmy Cowan (captain), 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Alando Soakai, 6 John Hardie, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Josh Bekhuis, 3 Clint Newland, 2 Jason Rutledge, 1 Jamie Mackintosh.
Replacements: 16 Jason Macdonald, 17 Bronson Murray, 18 Hayden Triggs, 19 Tim Boys, 20 Sean Romans, 21 Mat Berquist, 22 James Paterson.

Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Marc van Zyl (South Africa)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Kick-off: 17:05