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No honeymoon in the Lions' den

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:57

Heading north: Schalk Burger and Allister Coetzee are ready for the Lions

The Lions are going to be 'a hell of a tough side' to beat in Johannesburg and they should never be underestimated, according to Stormers head coach Allister Coetzee.

The Stormers have enjoyed a series of successful pre-season warm-up games, but the opening Super 14 match at Ellis Park on Saturday will be the first time in 2010 that the result of the game really matters.

"They're quite an unpredictable side and Dick Muir's always got a few tricks up his sleeve," Coetzee told rugby365.com in an exclusive interview.

"Dick is experienced and he'll know how to get the Lions up. To them it's a hell of an important match as well. Likewise for us.

"And it's their home, so we're under no illusions. We're going up there to play against a very determined, very physical Lions side. We've just got to go there and be at our best."

The Stormers appreciate how tough it is going to be.

"The league is starting this weekend, the serious business," said Coetzee.

"The honeymoon period is over now. All of our guys know they need to go out there and take on the responsibility to represent the Stormers."

Coetzee said he was satisfied that the players understood the law application at breakdown, that discipline would be good and that not too many penalties would be conceded.

"We have to comply," he said, adding that the team had been through "so many sessions - technical and theoretical - with refs".

Asked whether the goal mentioned recently of restricting the penalty count to six or eight was still a target, he said: "It's going to come down to interpretation of the different refs but I'll be happy with single figures.

"I think at the end of the day it's about the composure of the side. The players have the advantage of having played in this [tri-series] competition and having had a go at it. I'm fairly happy with where we are now."

The coach was asked by rugby365.com whether Anton van Zyl would be considered as a four lock (front of the line-out) in the course of the season or only as a five lock (middle of the line-out).

"I think the roles differ," Coetzee said.

"I think our front lock has a certain job to perform. Wormsie [Van Zyl] does very well as a five lock. He manages line-outs well and he's a good middle jumper too.

"You've got a young De Kock Steenkamp performing the role of a four and he's done exceptionally well. And we've got Adriaan Fondse coming back as well.

"It's good to be in a position where you have Andries, Adriaan, De Kock and Anton all in the mix."

Nick Koster, who played two years SA Schools and then for SA U20 as a loose-forward before making his Currie Cup and then Super 14 debut on the wing as a 19-year old, will be back on the field in about a month after long-term injury, and Coetzee confirmed that the Stormers hierarchy saw Koster as a backline player and not a loose-forward.

At this stage the priority was to get Koster playing again.

"All I'm interested in is to get the lad back onto the rugby field, to get him out there to play, to be fit. And I think his mind is set on playing in the backline - that was his wish when we sat down with him at the beginning of the year," Coetzee said.

Asked whether Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie had settled in at the Stormers, the coach described them as "two top-class players, two world-class players" and said he was "very happy" with them.

Like the rest of the Stormers team they appreciated that the honeymoon period was now over, "but they're happy in the Stormers set-up; they've settled in well".

The coach has full faith in Schalk Burger as the new skipper in succession to Jean de Villiers.

"They are both brilliant leaders in their own right. They're definitely not the same type of guys but both are brilliant leaders and both have been brilliant ambassadors for Western Province and Stormers rugby over the years.
 
"Schalla leads from the front. It's a bit easier if you're in the engine room because that's where it all starts.

"Schalla is surrounded by quite a few quality senior players so that will help the cause and make life a bit easier for Schalla."

Coetzee mentioned "Tiaan Liebenberg and Andries Bekker up front" as well as "Peter Grant, Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie at the back" as senior players who would offer Burger strong support.

Paul Bosch, who dislocated an elbow during the Stormers largely second-string team's 47-13 win over a Boland XV at the new Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, would be out for six to eight weeks.
 
Coetzee commented: "This kid has come along nicely. He's been working very hard, so it's unfortunate, but it's something that can't be controlled."

Asked what role Rassie Erasmus was playing in the Stormers set-up, Coetzee said that he (Coetzee) was "responsible for the day-to-day running of the team and making sure the team that runs out on Saturday - selected by me - is ready for the match at hand".

Erasmus looked at the broader strategic plan for rugby in the Western Cape but that "he's a very creative guy and is still involved in the planning".

"He can sit on the outside and look from the outside in and still guide us - that's a great sounding board for me to have."

The Stormers face a tough Australasian trip after their six games in South Africa - five of them at Newlands - when they face the Force, Blues, Chiefs and Reds overseas, but Coetzee said the tour was "still a long way off" and one couldn't know at this stage what the injury position would be at that stage of the competition.

He was positive about the depth in the squad and about the spirit in the team "which I think is something that wasn't there in our last Super 14 campaign".

"The players are really tight as a team and we will be able to get over whatever adversity we might come across."

When rugby365.com suggested that his selections for the Force and Sharks tri-series games had given a clear indication of his thinking on his first-choice fifteen and that no surprises should be expected in the team selection for the Lions game, the coach said that while he could obviously not say anything specific on selection until the team announcement on Thursday morning, "I think you've got it right there. I wouldn't say you're off target!"

By Len Kaplan

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