Fleck pleased with Stormers Super Rugby pre-season

Stormers head coach Robbie Fleck says that their pre-season team-building camp at Wilderness was a fantastic success.

The Stormers changed the venue for this year’s pre-season camp from their regular base at Hermanus to offer a bit of variety for the players.

“Hermanus was really good to us and we had some good campaigns in the past, but we felt we needed a change of scenery so we moved on to Wilderness,” said Fleck.

“The purpose of the camp has been to build on what we started in November, we have put a major focus on our conditioning and the way we want to play but it also gives us an opportunity to build on our culture and a bit of teambuilding as well.

“The guys went up in the mountains and down the river on a few team building exercises and it was fantastic,” he said.

Fleck said the camp was useful in helping the new coaching personnel get to know the squad.

“It is a new coaching group and we have had to knuckle down fairly quickly and get stuck into it.

“We really want to embark on a coaching collective where we spread the workload. It allows the senior coaches to focus on certain areas that we need to get done immediately.

“There is a large group of 38 players here, and there are about eight coaches who are continously working with them on a one-on-one, a unit and a team basis,” said Fleck.

“We are into the thick of things and it has been great, the support of the rest of the coaches and the players has been fantastic and the guys are keen so I am really enjoying it.

“The coaching collective has made a huge difference and has made my job easier, and so has the buy-in from the players,” he said.