Fearless Robbie Fleck ready for Super Rugby challenge with South Africa’s Stormers
Rookie coach has been thrown into the firing line as new season begins
Rookie coach Robbie Fleck believes his young Stormers team will adopt a fearless approach to the new Super Rugby season as they get to grips with a new format and the weight of expectation.
The Cape Town-based team finished top of the South African conference last season but have since lost experience in both the management and playing staff ahead of the season-opener against the Bulls at Newlands on February 27.
Fleck, who won 31 caps at centre for South Africa, was not expecting to lead the side in 2016 but the swift arrival and departure of new England head coach Eddie Jones last November sees him elevated into the main chair.
“It’s really exciting, my approach is that we are going to be pretty fearless about it, both in our management and playing style,” Fleck said. “That doesn’t mean we are going to be off the wall, we’ll be pretty pragmatic.
We have to be fearless and can’t hold back. It’s my first time as head coach but I have been here for six or seven years as an assistant so I’m pretty used to the intensity ... and levels of expectation
“But we have to be fearless and can’t hold back. It’s my first time as head coach but I have been here for six or seven years as an assistant so I’m pretty used to the intensity of the competition and the levels of expectation.”