The Stormers confidently demolished a second string Force side 54-12 at Newlands.

Whilst most of the Wallabies were rested by Force coach John Mitchell, the Stormers showed the ruthless demolition that is required by sides who aspire to be championship material.

It represented a significant step-up from from the second string Stormers side that only beat UCT 21-3 last week.

After 12 minutes the Stormers who started strongly had raced to a 21-0 lead.

The Stormers scored 6 tries in the first half and 7 tries in the match in total.

There were problems with the scrum and at the breakdown, but the Stormers backs looked particularly sharp. Straight running and the ability to create space for their teammates was a highlight. The influence of Juan de Jongh, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana was especially evident.

After the match Alistair Coetzee said, “I’m unhappy with our discipline at the breakdown. It’s still at that stage of the season where referees are basically coaching players at the breakdown during the matches, and we got pinned quite a few times for not rolling away or holding on after the ref had called ruck. It is something we need to analyse and work on in the coming week.”

“I’m not too worried about the scrum. These are the pillars of the game we wanted to better this season. We’ve just got to make sure we don’t look for the short cut. We know what we wanted to achieve in this game and we got what we wanted” said Coetzee.

The injury to Willem de Waal may be a blessing in disguise. I favour Peter Grant at flyhalf, he has the ability to set the backline away and then de Jongh and Fourie can create space for the outside backs. I am sure Habana in particular will benefit and score many tries this year.

If de Waal is selected, he’ll bring a steadier kicking game, but I doubt the Stormers backs will score many tries, and the mindset of the Stormers may turn more and more defensive. I’d rather see them back their ability and score tries.

Habana set to be a crowd favourite

The crowd of 18 000 cheered Bryan Habana from his first touch, and he looks set to become a crowd favourite on his new home ground of Newlands.

Earlier this week Habana said “No matter how big the stage is that you have played on, you do obviously feel nervous when you are starting out with a new team. I obviously also want to make as big an impression as I can for my new franchise, and it will be crucial to win our opening Super 14 match.”

“I can’t believe how welcome everyone makes me feel. Everywhere I go people are going out of their way to welcome me to the Cape. It is really humbling. Of course in Pretoria you get the true blue Bulls fan, and they are special people, but it is astounding how in Cape Town you can be 600 metres away and people will shout out to you and let everyone in the shopping centre know you are there. This is fanatical rugby country” said Habana.

Habana knows what a winning culture is like, and it appears he wants to recreate the success he had at the Bulls down in the Cape.

“I had an honest chat with Rassie Erasmus when I was being recruited by the Stormers. It took me about 10 days to make up my mind, and one of the things I wanted to make sure of was that I was moving to a place where a winning culture could be created. I was impressed with Rassie’s plans and his determination to get the Stormers and Western Province to succeed. I felt I wanted to go somewhere I could make a difference, but I would never have moved down if I could not see the potential for the Stormers to be a winning franchise” said Habana

“The work ethic here has been amazing. To see the work the guys are putting in, and to be part of it, has been really encouraging. Work ethic is a big thing at the Bulls, and it was one of the reasons I might initially have been sceptical about moving down, but thankfully my fears have been completely allayed” continued Habana.

The Stormers have started well and are working hard. They’ll welcome back captain Schalk Burger soon, and appear set for a big Super 14 season!