Like Liverpool under Slot, Stormers are more controlled

The DHL Stormers will head into their final Vodacom United Rugby Championship tour game against Edinburgh at the Hive at the weekend in a confident mood after their comprehensive 36-5 shut out of Zebre.

Charging To Conquest 🐂⚡️

The Vodacom @BlueBullsRugby dominate the scoreline in South Africa with a resounding 47-21 victory over @UlsterRugby#BKTURC #URC | #BULvLEI pic.twitter.com/6XKloTSph2

— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 5, 2024

In the past there wouldn’t have been justification for an overflow of euphoria following a win over Zebre, but this was a Zebre team that had produced the biggest upset of the early part of the URC season by beating another recent champion team, Munster. Zebre are undeniably on the up, and there was some understatement when Stormers head coach John Dobson said last week “This game isn’t a gimme”.

It might not have been had the Stormers gone in playing the loose, flashy game that cost them on the corresponding tour in the 2023/2024 season. It will be recalled that back then there was much focus on what many thought was over-emphasis on the flashy aspects of the Stormers game, with that hoary old cricketing analogy of trying to hit sixes before building an innings springing to mind.

The Stormers weren’t guilty of that in Parma. Quite the opposite in fact. Their bonus point win was achieved through a methodical suffocation of Zebre, and it was only later in the game, once the subdue part of the old “subdue and penetrate” rugby phrase had been achieved, that we really saw the flash.

Well, okay, there were handling errors from the Stormers in the first half, and maybe part of the reason we didn’t see that much flash in the early part of the game was because Zebre’s defensive effort was on point.

But the Stormers did show more patience than they have sometimes in the past, they did seem more controlled, and a soccer comparison comes to mind - the Stormers now look more like Arne Slot’s Liverpool, who are emphasising control, than the rock star approach employed under Jurgen Klopp. In other words, more measured and clinical.

GOT IT RIGHT AFTER MORE SETTLED WEEK

In truth, we had seen signs of it in the opening game against the Ospreys, but that game was played in a travel week for the Stormers and was also their first proper gallop of the new season against a team that already had a competition game in its legs. That and some particularly dubious refereeing calls at the set-scrums was what cost them victory in Bridgend.

Ultimately though that was a defeat that Dobson, much like Slot did with the recent Nottingham Forest reverse at Anfield, easily put behind him, and he was pleased on Saturday night with the way his team had dealt with the pressure that had been ratcheted up after that opening defeat.

“Our goal from the tour is to get two wins. We used our free hit last week,” said Dobson as he looked back on the game and ahead to the next date with Edinburgh.

He would have known when he was talking that Edinburgh fell apart in the first half of their game against the Edinburgh Lions earlier in the day, but playing Edinburgh in Johannesburg in what was effectively a lunch time day and playing them in Edinburgh on their 4G pitch is an entirely different proposition.

“Edinburgh will be a very, very different prospect at the Hive. It’s going to be a difficult game, but we’ve got confidence from tonight. We want to get two wins from the tour, that was our aim.

"Had we been going to Edinburgh without a win, we would have lacked a bit of confidence and would have had no chance of hitting the target we had set. Now. it’s everything to play for, for us. I feel like we are in a good space.

“The other good thing is even though we planned for Steven Kitshoff and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (both injured) to be with us today and they couldn’t, it looks like we haven’t picked up any injuries. We are a healthy and happy squad and we will put everything into getting a second win on tour next weekend.”

LAKER CAME CLOSE TO BUYING DONUTS

The win was secured long before the end of the game but it required them to pull out all the stops late in the game to secure an important try scoring bonus point, with the last one being achieved when wing Angelo Davids crossed off the last play of the game. The chase for the bonus point try effectively saved defence coach Norman Laker from having to fork out Euros for 29 donuts, which he does when his team keeps a clean sheet. It looked like the Stormers were destined to keep the hosts scoreless before Zebre snuck in for a late try.

“That was scored because we sacrificed in our chase for a bonus point,” said Dobson.

“It was always going to be a scoreboard-pressure building of the innings. We must give credit to Zebre. They are a very different team from what they were. Their defence and physicality may not have come across on TV, but it was like a wall in front of us. We just had to build the scoreboard pressure to make them chase the game.

“With 15 minutes to go, we were where we wanted to be, building the innings. There were one or two forced passes when we realised a fourth try was on the table and decided to push for it. But we really wanted to bank a win (first and foremost).

“In terms of what we wanted, this was exactly the performance that was needed. We put them under the pump physically. It took a lot to break that defensive wall down. The message came up from the players that the ball was slippery because of the conditions, so we struggled to get distance passes. But we are happy.”