Stormers’ overplaying continues to cost them as they size up Edinburgh

2026-03-25 - 09:41

The Stormers’ tendency to overplay was once again on show over the past weekend, and is something they need to try and fix soon, as they prepare to host Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Saturday. Luckily it didn’t cost the Stormers, as they clinched a tight 29-21 win over the second bottom of the log Dragons, but they should have won by a lot more, such was the number of chances they created and their dominance overall, particularly in the scrums. However, it has cost them on occasion this season, with them suffering back-to-back losses against the Sharks, while they were lucky to escape with a 13-8 home win over the Bulls at the start of the year, where they were guilty of overplaying again. Most recently during their 24-10 loss against the Lions at Ellis Park last month, the Stormers shot themselves in the foot, as they made enough chances and were good enough to have fought for a win. But they blew most of those opportunities, especially when playing against 13-men for six minutes during the second half, with them in the Lions 22m for most of it, and were still unable to score. Speaking on Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s match, Stormers assistant coach Dawie Snyman said that they had overplayed against the Dragons, but were happy that they were still getting into positions to score. Opportunities “We created a number of opportunities, even when we played the Bulls here. (The problem with converting) is (due to) a variety of things,” explained Snyman. “From our option-taking, skill execution that we want to focus on. It’s maybe taking the wrong option, or a pass that’s not going to hand, small things like that. “But the thing that we are excited about is that we do create those opportunities. It’s better than scratching your head and wondering what you have to do to create those opportunities. We want to be really sharp when it comes to these big games coming up. “So it’s a bit of a balance. We give the players the freedom and the trust in those scenarios. On a Tuesday or a Monday, we can go look back at some of those scenarios and learn from them. “It’s something that’s just not on the player’s, it’s on the coaches. It’s about working together to try and get that right and getting everyone on the same page.” With Edinburgh smarting from their hiding from the Lions, and set to be boosted by some returning Scottish star players, the Stormers will likely have to be a lot more clinical on attack, if they don’t want to find themselves in a sticky situation during the match.