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Stormers to stick to their DNA while upping their defence against Leinster
Stormers loose forward Marcel Theunissen insists they will continue playing freely and won’t be changing their style when they take on Leinster.
Stormers loose forward Marcel Theunissen says they will continue to play freely despite their recent struggles with overplaying, when they host Leinster in Cape Town on Saturday night. Picture: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images
The Stormers will be firmly sticking to their attacking DNA, despite their recent woes of overplaying, while improving their defence as they welcome United Rugby Championship (URC) table toppers Leinster to the Cape Town Stadium for their vital encounter on Saturday night (kick-off 7:05pm).
The Cape side was shocked 27-21 by Ospreys over the past weekend, suffering just their third ever URC defeat in Cape Town, following which their offload game was heavily criticised after a number of mistakes were made on defence and attack because of it.
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However loose forward Marcel Theunissen, who will play his 50th game for the Stormers against Leinster this weekend, insists that they will continue playing freely and won’t be changing their style any time soon.
“It (the offload game) is in our DNA, it is who we are and we are not going to change it. We have just got to be more decisive,” explained Theunissen.
“We want to play rugby for our supporters and the way we play is the rugby that they enjoy. So we will not be taking that away, we must just make better decisions.”
Poor defence
What the Stormers will be most disappointed with about the Ospreys loss is conceding four tries in the match, which saw the Welsh visitors walking away with a full house of points.
Leinster will also be disappointed with their defensive effort after shipping six tries against the Lions and they will also be aiming to improve in that department on Saturday, and Stormers defence coach Norman Laker believes it will be an interesting battle between the two teams.
“Conceding four tries is a bitter pill to swallow. One thing we have spoken quite a bit about since the game was our intensity on defence. We are normally so well organised when coming up but this time we came up in dribs and drabs,” said Laker.
“There was definitely something lacking. In this competition, you can’t underestimate anyone. I think it was at the start of last season that Zebre nearly beat Leinster. The final score was 31-29.
“I am not saying we underestimated the Ospreys, but our intensity definitely wasn’t the same as in previous games and we paid for it.
“Leinster are a quality outfit. I know Jacques (Nienaber) well, they will be very competitive on Saturday. They will be stung by the loss to the Lions and looking to bounce back, as will we.”
