Tuesday, January 8, 2008

No `scrum doctoring` at Stormers

Stormers coach Rassie Erasmus does not plan to pay "special attention" to his team's scrumming, despite the ongoing perception that his team's set pieces could pose problems in the Super 14.

Erasmus, like many of his predecessors at the Cape Town franchise, dismissed the notion that they have any problems with their scrumming and said that he is sure that they will be competitive in this year's competition.

While Erasmus is confident that his forwards can hold their own this year, in the past the Stormers pack were considered a soft touch by the majority of their opponents.

"I've coached some of the best scrummagers in South Africa, and I really think it's a misperception that we can't scrum," he told this website.

"In the Currie Cup they did very well against some big names. Gary [Gold] did a really good job with the pack during the Currie Cup and I'm sure that this year we'll more than hold our own in the Super 14.

"The scrumming hasn't been too bad in training and, to be honest, I haven't really paid a lot of attention to it," he added.

Erasmus also spoke about the progress of the Stormers pre-season training saying he was happy with the progress that had been made by the Cape Town-based side.

"It's not looking too bad at the moment," he said.

"Most coaches will say it's going well, but you can't really tell. So I'd say that we'll only really find out how we've done when we play our pre-season games."

Meanwhile, concerns about the fitness of prop Schalk Ferreira after he was involved in a car accident were dismissed on Tuesday with Erasmus informing this website that the front row forward was back in training.

There was concern that Ferreira, who has had trouble with his neck in the past, may have injured it again during the accident.

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