PLAY-OFF BLUES
Stormers defiant after Super Rugby play-off defeat
The team has come a long way in a year, but they are still coming up short in the big games
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck was defiant after his team slumped to another Super Rugby play-off defeat against the Chiefs at Newlands. The Stormers went down 17-11 to the New Zealanders on Saturday in a repeat of the 2016 quarterfinal, which the Chiefs won 60-21. In that context the Stormers have come a long way in a year, but they are still coming up short in the big games. This was the Stormers’ eighth play-off loss in nine attempts since 1999. They have lost five play-offs in a row at Newlands since beating the Waratahs in the 2010 semifinal. "Last year’s loss was humiliating but this year the defeat was a lot tougher to swallow when you consider how far we’ve come," Fleck said. "There was one point in it with five minutes to go. We had an opportunity to go ahead in the game [SP Marais missed a penalty a few minutes earlier] and we didn’t take it. I don’t know if the best team won but we certainly are a better outfit than we were 12 months ago." A blanket comparison of the Stormer...
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