“It’s a Super 14 final between South African teams and whatever comes with that – vuvuzelas and the excitement – has to be embraced,” said Stormers coach Allister Coetzee.
Vuvuzelas are not permitted at Newlands when the Stormers play, but the Bulls and supporters will be making a mistake if they think that their new “Player23” will knock the Stormers out of their stride.
“We have a saying in the team and that is to block out external factors.”
Stormers flyhalf and goalkicker Peter Grant will feel the pressure the most.
After Matt Giteau he’s the most accurate goalkicker in this year’s Super 14, but he can probably expect the Bulls fans to bring out their vuvuzelas when he kicks for posts on Saturday.
“The goalkickers know the pressures that come with the job and really just need to focus on what needs to be done – kicking the ball through the posts,” said Coetzee.
“The vuvuzelas can’t hurt you. They can make a noise, but can’t tackle you. Peter has showed that he can handle pressure.”
Grant certainly did not experience problems with Hamilton’s chainsaws and cowbells when the Stormers wiped the floor with the Chiefs, so why be frightened by vuvuzelas?
One of the Stormers’ biggest challenges will be to stay calm under pressure. The Crusaders could not do it against the Bulls in Soweto on Saturday and lost 24-39.
“This is a very good Bulls team and the big thing is not to get rattled,” said Coetzee.
“That’s what happened to the Crusaders. We saw how good players like Colin Slade, Sean Maitland and Dan Carter knocked the ball on. They made mistakes because of the pressure.”
For the Stormers it will be important to handle the Bulls’ kicking game.
“They have very good kickers in Fourie du Preez, Morné Steyn and Zane Kirchner. They launch high kicks and chase very well,” said Coetzee.
“Most of the teams in the Super 14 can not handle it. The All Blacks could not even handle it last year when Fourie du Preez and Morné Steyn played against them.
“We know the plan and mentality, and hopefully that gives us a better chance of being competitive against them.”
Hel dis nou eers dinsdag, die week voel al klaar lank…….
stem…kan nou nie meer wag om deel te wees van die finaal nie!!!!
“We know the plan and mentality, and hopefully that gives us a better chance of being competitive against them.”
..
now thats the bit thats worrying me a bit.
yes, i do believe that we can handle their kicking game, but i think they’ll try and take a leaf out of the sharks’ book and try to hang unto possession. not sure how effective this bulls side will be in doing so, though. they did move a long way from their traditional structures this season.
anyway, its gonna be a huge game. cant wait for saturday!!
@ Ashley:
What happens on Saturday?
@ Ashley:
Got it spot on my friend, there wil be some high kicks towards the back 3 of the stormers, but i think the bulls wants to surprise the stormers by playing the running game and keeping the ball away from the stormers…
the saint @ 4
😯 o gosh, you got me there!! i cant remember!! 😀
See CJ is back at Cheetahs soon…
I will only be sold on this whole Soweto changing the face of rugby thing, when the Bulls play one or two regular season games there as well.
To say that the Bulls are shifting frontiers is actually a bit overwhelming, taking into account that Orlando Stadium was the ONLY available stadium at the time. It’s not like anything is going to change after this weekend’s final, later this year, it’s back to Fortress Loftus, and cheers to Soweto.
Yes the effort is praiseworthy, but the only reason the Bulls didn’t shift to a smaller ground somewhere, is the matter of income, that is all that matters here, be serious guys.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t integrate rugby into Soweto, but saying that this is what the Bulls are doing is ridiculous. If the World Cup wasn’t here, these games would have been played at Loftus. That’s all I ‘m saying.
@ The Saint:
Agreed, but I think it’s more a matter of how people from both spectrums have embraced the situation and each other that is praise worthy…
Lot’s of people would’nt havr predicted that in a million years !!!
@ Blouste:
I think a lot of perceptions have been changed…
blouste @ 10
well, you (hopefully) just answered my question i posted under the “gore them” thread
@ Ashley:
Yes, just answered you there aswell
All in all, I think the influence were a BIG positive…imo
btw, i see that jdevilliers have withdrawn from the sprinbok squad because of an shoulder injury. his place place will be taken by jfourie!
@ Ashley:
Yip saw that too…
blouste @ 14
bit of a setback, because i wouldve liked to see guys like jfourie etc being able to put their feet up for a week or 2.
o, and computicket is ALWEER besig om sy g*t te sien, lol
The Saint wrote:
i think it is not for you to doubt the credentials of the BBC. Look where this thing led too and be as surprised as the BBC its supporters and the rest of SA. Yeah we did something brave and it is a resounding success. What we must do now is unlike 1995 , dont let this cool down and disappear, we MUST do more. Maybe play the Lions there next year.
Or even better if we reach the playoffs again play it at Soccer City, that will be a sight, 80 000 blue flags…..
@ superBul:
SuperBul…if that happens…then respect.
I don’t see it as brave what the Bulls have done. I think it is safe. What other options would there have been?
Look there is no doubt that the Bulls did’nt have much of a choice to follow this route…
But I think a lot of positives have come from this…
Financially in the short run the lost out on a lot of money…
As for the BBC? … Please…most of those clowns think that Pretoria is in Anarchy and that Lions still walk the streets of Jo’Burg.
The BBC, well respected as they are worldwide, knows nothing of Africa and what is going on here, they merely hazard a guess. Take a picture of a Bulls Supporter in a Soweto Shebeen, and suddenly all is well? That is the way the BBC thinks. The way I think is:
SSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMM SSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM!
There is that beautiful stadium in Rustenburg. But yes this was the biggest. I still dont know what FIFA want to do with Loftus so early. But that was the deal so be it.
The BBC moved completely out of Loftus, computers not sure but offices was emptied, even the B fields not available, why i dont know. Stupid if you tell me.
The BBC i talk about is the Blue Bull Company. Not the Queens TV 😆
O flok…eiers in my gesig.
@ The Saint:
Ja Saint, jy moet fokus voor jy skreeu “bastards, bloody agents !!!” 😆
Praat ordentlik laat mens flokken verstaan wat jy se? 😉
“Bastards, Blouste Agents!!!!!!
The Saint wrote:
Jy skree vir die Stormers ne… 😆
What is the seating capacity at Royal Bafokeng anybody ?
blouste @ 28
jy’t dit UITEINDELIK uitgefigure??
well done broetsie!! bloody hell, what an achievement!! 😀
Users Online
Total 18 users including 0 member, 18 guests, 0 bot online
Most users ever online were 3735, on 31 August 2022 @ 6:23 pm
No Counter as from 31 October 2009: 39,561,587 Page Impressions
_