Stormers coach John Dobson says some of his Springboks were a bit "rusty" in their 21-19 win over the Sharks last Sunday.
In what was their final warm-up match before hosting the Hurricanes at Newlands on February 1 in their Super Rugby opener, Dobson admits his pack need to sharpen up.
Struggling against the Sharks forwards in the first half, Dobson says of his star-studded unit's performance: “It was a conditioning issue - a couple of those Springboks, Kitsie [Steven Kitshoff] and Siya [Kolisi] are a bit rusty, I think.”
LONG HOLIDAY: Prop Kitshoff was off his game. Picture: CHRIS RICCO/BACKPAGEPIX
Apart from polishing up displays, the coach also reveals that there were some issues with the calling of plays.
He told the players to implement a rolling maul defence system after the Sharks had almost scored and his captain Siya was like: “what’s that?”.
So it’s evident some things need to be ironed out before the season kicks off.
Dobson was encouraged, though, by his team’s second-half performance up front, with replacement prop Kwenzo Blose and lock David Meihuizen catching the eye.
URGENT: Coach John Dobson
The coach adds: “It was nice to see a guy like Kwenzo Blose and the youngsters get scrum dominance. Blose was outstanding at loosehead.
“Then there’s also David Meihuizen. I think he played sixth team or fifth team at Paarl Boys High he won every lineout ball.”
In the backline, Herschel Jantjies won the Man of the Match award after scoring two tries.
FUTURE: Williams and Jantjies. Picture: SAMUEL SHIVAMBU/BACKPAGEPIX
But it was by no means a faultless performance by the World Cup-winning No.9, with Dobson convinced that the sooner Jantjies and Damian Wiilemse find their rhythm as a halfback pairing, the better for Bok rugby.
The coach says: “I told him [Jantjies] before the game about second-year syndrome.
“Our job is to make sure that he and Damian [Willemse] form a real understanding, because that is the future potentially.”