What former Bok coach NICK MALLETT had to say on SuperSport about the past weekend's Super Rugby matches involving South African teams.

Kings vs Stormers

‘Job well done by the Stormers. I enjoyed their interplay between backs and forwards. It was wonderful running off the ball by players getting themselves into better positions than the ball-carrier. It’s also wonderful to see a lot of youngsters come off the bench. Damian Willemse is something special. This was a chance for the Stormers to show the depth they have and it’s promising when you see these players come on and really do well.

'But let’s not take away from the Kings’ performance. I thought it was really wholehearted, given the difference in talent between the teams. We expected the Stormers to win with a bonus point, but there were fantastic aspects of the game that the Kings produced. They made some great turnovers, some good defence and some very good attack, which unluckily didn’t result in tries. The Kings look like a better organised and more enthusiastic team than they were last year.

‘Chris Cloete is extraordinary. He has such strong arms and such a low wheel-base – the space between his feet and his shoulders is short, so it is very hard to clean him off the ball. He frustrated the Stormers.

'All in all it was a very good display from both teams.' 

ALSO READ: Five takeaways from past weekend

Cheetahs vs Sunwolves

‘It was an error-strewn game, with both sides making a lot of handling mistakes. The Cheetahs have this policy to play themselves out of defence in order to find space for their kicking game. But against a team like the Sunwolves, who counter-attack everything, that policy didn’t work. The faster the Cheetahs played, the more it played into the hands of a fast and loose Sunwolves side.

'The Cheetahs have good players, but where weren’t any positive ball-carriers who could get them across the advantage line, get the opposition defence in disarray and then get the structure to finish. They created several opportunities, but it was the old problems of handling errors and off-loading at the wrong time, that resurfaced.

‘I think the Cheetahs were a little over-confident going into this game and will be very relieved that they came away with a win because it was quite tight.’

*Note: Mallett did not comment on the games between the Sharks and Waratahs in Durban and the Jaguares and Lions in Buenos Aires.

ALSO READ: Stormers in charge of group

Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images