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Stormers call in two injury reinforcements as Kolisi sent home

By Online Editors
Siya Kolisi

Under fire Stormers coach Robbie Fleck sent an SOS to Cape Town for reinforcements, as he looks to salvage something from a winless Australasian tour.

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Centre Dan Kriel and hooker Chad Solomon have flown out to join the Stormers in Australia, ahead of their final tour match against the Rebels on Friday. Outside back Sarel Marais and lock Chris van Zyl have both flown back to Cape Town.

The duo picked up injuries in the Stormers’ 12-24 loss to the Reds in Brisbane last Friday. Marais has a hip flexor injury, while Van Zyl has been ruled out for at least six weeks due to a back injury.

Captain Siya Kolisi has also returned home, as he is being rested this weekend.

Two quick tries early in the second half unsettled the DHL Stormers in the third game on their Australasian tour, and they ultimately lost to the Reds by 24-12 in Brisbane on Friday.

The scores were tied at 0-0 at the break and the Capetonians would have rued a couple of missed chances in the first half. Twice in the first 20 minutes they crossed the try-line, with a matter of inches between Damian Willemse and Sergeal Petersen scoring tries for the visitors.

Both teams defended well in the opening half, but it was a piece of cynical play by Siya Kolisi which broke the dam wall. The DHL Stormers captain was yellow-carded right before the break and during the 10 minutes he spent in the sin bin, the Reds scored twice, through Samu Kerevi and Brandon Paenga, to take a 14-0 lead after 45 minutes.

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The visitors fought back through a try by Kobus van Dyk, but when Tate McDermott tapped quickly from a penalty and exploited a momentary lapse of concentration by the visitors, the win was basically sealed for the Reds, even though Damian De Allende added a second try for Robbie Fleck’s team.

The DHL Stormers’ biggest problems were their struggle to convert their opportunities into points, a lack of patience on attack and too many mistakes. Their tour Down Under concludes next week against the top side in the Australian Conference, the Rebels in Melbourne.

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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