It seems a weird topic to discuss given that they had just lost to the Crusaders overnight but to be fair, the Crusaders had to play extremely well to beat a still excellent Stormers side - who deservedly got a bonus point at the death which will definitely go a long way to boosting their chances of hosting much of the finals series.
The Stormers in my opinion are still very much the team to beat but they were always going to find it hard to beat the Crusaders in front of a parochial and rugby starved Christchurch crowd. I don't think they've ever won in Christchurch if my memory serves me right.
Ok, while the Highlanders v Stormers game the previous weekend was certainly a clash between the then no. 1 and no. 2 teams on the table, you always got the sense that this year's Highlanders may not be quite ready to take on an in-form dominant South African side like the Stormers. On the other hand, the Crusaders have the experience and known pedigree to beat any side and you felt that they could beat the first team to end the unbeaten run of the Stormers.
They struggled to beat them, but beat them they did courtesy of those typical Crusaders moments and of course that Crusaders D.
But once again, it was that Stormers defence that stood out for me again, as well as their ability to dominate the breakdowns with so few men committed to them. They clearly have plenty of physically big players who are also pretty skillful around the park - the problem with South African rugby in the past was the fact they just had these big fat men which the All Blacks and Wallabies could run rings around. However, the professionalism of the game has created a generation of South African rugby players who could be the most outstanding physical specimens of rugby players ever.
And again their backs looked dangerous. Joe Pietersen looks like Percy Montgomery reborn while Bryan Habana might be in the Indian summer of his career having looked so out of sorts last year. Then there's always the class of Jean de Villiers and halfback, Duvenage.
I have a feeling if the Stormers can come back from this loss and win most of their remaining games in the Republic - well really that's all of their games for the rest of the season now that they've got their tour of the Antipodes out of the way bar one more game against the reigning champions, Reds - they would top the table and host the finals in Cape Town. And it would be quite a formidable task for any team to beat them there if they were on song.
Not that I don't mind too much, if it had to be a South African team to win the Super rugby competition - and they seem more likely to now, I'd rather these guys win it and not the Bulls.
The Stormers defence was good, but lets not forget the Crusaders outmuscles them and outenthused them last year in the semi final too. Personally I think the Crusaders have as a good a chance as anyone of winning the title. The Chiefs look strong but seem to lose their structure too easily sometimes. Having said that they have a backline to destroy anyone on their day and are well coached.
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