Stormers defensive coach Norman Laker. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
- It seems unlikely that the Stormers will follow the Bulls’ playbook by choosing a “B-team” in the Champions Cup.
- Assistant coach Norman Laker says they’d rather give fringe players “chances with experienced guys.”
- As the Stormers prepare for a home game against London Irish, center Ruhan Nel says they learned valuable lessons in the away loss to Clermont.
Stormers assistant coach Norman Laker says they will be more conservative in their approach to team selection in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup.
The Bulls gambled with a largely second-string squad in their Champions League opener against Lyon at Loftus last weekend.
Many pundits called it a Bulls “B-team”, but director of rugby Jake White’s gamble paid off as his charges took a 28-0 first-half lead.
However, the French team rallied strongly and nearly pulled off a death win when they camped out on the Bulls’ test line, before going down 42-36.
Laker, whose Stormers team lost 24-14 to French club ASM Clermont Auvergne, said playing in the so-called “B-team” will always be a gamble.
The Stormers’ defense guru was probed on the matter at a news conference Tuesday. He was cautious in revealing how the Stormers would juggle the workload in two competitions (URC and Champions Cup).
“We haven’t thought that much, to be honest. If it works for you, then it works for you, if it doesn’t work out, then the viewers won’t like you as much,” Laker said.
Laker used Irish giants Leinster as an example of a team that stayed competitive through both contests last season.
“I know that the URC and the Champions Cup are two different competitions, but I think Leinster is a perfect example of last year… reaching a URC semi-final and reaching the Champions Cup final.
“I’m not saying we’re Leinster, I’m just saying it can happen. I think we’ve rotated our squad quite well in the first nine games.” [of the season]. I think we’re the only team that hasn’t actually picked the same XV in the last nine games. We gave the boys opportunities.
“In our case, we prefer to build depth that way… [by] giving guys opportunities with experienced guys than just building a whole new team.
“But by saying that, [the Bulls] I had Bismarck du Plessis and Morne Steyn on that team who are world class and phenomenal players. You can’t ask for more experience than that in any team. I think those two guys can run a team on their own.”
The Stormers host English club London Irish at Cape Town Stadium this weekend and Laker promised his charges would strengthen their defence.
The Stormers led 14-3 at halftime against Clermont, but faltered on defense and failed to score in the second stanza.
Laker said he was expecting a slightly different challenge this weekend.
“One thing that will be completely different is that it will not be minus two degrees. His 12 (Benhard Janse van Rensburg) is a very good rugby player, as are his left-back (Ollie Hassell-Collins) and fullback (Ben Loader) if they put the ball into space so they can cause damage.
“But they are much more structured than the French team. The French team gave the ball a little more air. They had a bit of hope and a prayer mentality when they gave the ball to those big Fijians.”
“The London Irish are much more structured. They have guys who run good lines, good blocking lines and guys who can pass from behind well.
“So I think it’s a bit of a different challenge this weekend, but I don’t think it’s too different to what we’ve experienced in the URC. Edinburgh, Connacht are two teams that play similarly.”
“One thing they do well is keep [possession] of the ball very well, but we are looking forward to the game”.
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Despite the defeat in France, center ruhan nel They said that they would still take positive things from the meeting.
“We didn’t win at the end but to lead 14-3 at the break [away at Clermont] it was a great feather in our cap. We will take a look at how [should] approaching the second half. I think it’s a bit of a lapse in concentration. But we’d rather learn lessons from our first game than maybe learn them later in the playoffs.”
Nel said that he was enjoying the prospect of facing the London Irish.
“Like us, they like to give the ball a bit of air. So we mustn’t play dumb.” [rugby] giving up possession easily or kicking poorly, or giving them unnecessary possession so they can exploit that space.
“But I’m looking forward to it, it’s good to play against a team that likes to give the ball a bit of air,” said Nel.
The clash on Saturday begins at 19:30.
