Stormers don’t mean to be spoilsports

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Stormers captain Schalk Burger says his side have gone out to play their best rugby without the intention of denying fellow South African teams a chance to progress to the Super Rugby playoffs.

The Cape side ended the Bulls’ faint hopes of qualifying for the playoff when they defeated the Tswane side 16-0 at Newlands on Saturday and could deny the Sharks a possible home semifinal when the two sides meet this coming weekend.

“It’s never been our intention to be spoilers, but this is the best reality TV you can get, but we feel we have to repay our loyal spectators,” Burger told Sapa.

“The plan was always to keep ball in hand and that first half was as good as any time we played this year, while in the second the old gremlins crept in and the Bulls put us under pressure.”

Meanwhile, Bulls captain Victor Matfield was left frustrated by the number of errors which were committed by his side against a determined Stormers outfit.

“I think in that first half we simply made too many mistakes as the Stormers kept on attacking and we simply couldn’t hold onto the ball,” he said.

“It went better in the second half as we managed to create a few turnovers at the scrums and a few at the lineouts and we manage to put some pressure on with ball in hand.”

“The Stormers are a difficult side to stop once they have built up some momentum.”