Stormers coach Robbie Fleck praised his side for their defensive improvement after they overcame the Bulls 29-17 at Newlands on Saturday.
The Stormers came into the match on the back of three successive away defeats to South African teams, but they once again showed how much playing at home inspires them as they condemned the Bulls to a seventh straight defeat at Newlands.
‘I am very proud. This game meant a lot to us,’ Fleck said. ‘The defence on our line at stages was outstanding. Especially when we were at 14 men [after Ramone Samuels was yellow-carded], they got that advantage and we still defended heroically.
‘I thought our maul defence was exceptional. They have a decent maul and they kept coming at us, but credit to our boys. We just kept on knocking them back. We really worked hard on that during the week, credit to our pack and coaches for sorting that out.
‘We just have to keep winning and keep getting better. If we keep striving for that 80-minute performance, we can put other teams under pressure. We have had to fight incredibly hard over the past couple of weeks. It hasn’t been ideal but the team has shown a bit of character now and our game is starting to come together.’
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Siya Kolisi, who marked his 100th cap for the Stormers with a fantastic performance, says he was honoured to have been able to share the occasion with his family and teammates.
‘Getting messages from guys like Schalk [Burger], Jean de Villiers, Andries Bekker and Bryan Habana, who have been in a similar situation, meant a lot. They took me under their wing when I got here. Having Frans [Malherbe], Kitsy [Steven Kitshoff], Scarra [Ntubeni] and Nizaam [Carr], who I started out with, here was very special.
‘My wife [Rachel] really made it special. For me, it is all about the team, but my wife has seen it as a big thing and organised my family to come down. Forty people in a box from the Eastern Cape and then there were 70 people in the crowd, it was ridiculous.’
Photo: Nic Bothma/BackpagePix
